Just What I Needed
by uchiha.s
Summary: AU. Sakura's transfer to Konoha High is not as easy as she had hoped. Encounters with scary blonde fangirls, a secret romance, and meeting the love of your life in an advanced calculus classroom make up for one heck of a year! PART ONE IS FINISHED
1. The New Girl

Just What I Needed

By Sakura Uchiha

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Romance/Humor

Summary: You'd think transferring to a new high school would be relatively easy. But for Sakura Haruno, this is not so! Encounters with scary blonde fan girls, secret romances between teachers and students, a fan club dedicated to her, and meeting the love of her life will make Sakura's transfer to Konoha high the weirdest, and best one yet.

[A/N: Konnichiwa, minna-san! This is my first fanfiction! Please review so that I know I'm doing this right!]

Disclaimer: According to Santa, I was a bad girl this year… so no, I don't own Naruto.

Chapter One: The New Girl

Sakura nervously twirled a lock of pink hair around her finger. Around her were many students, smiling and talking, and just trying to enjoy the last warm days of fall. _Will they like me? Will they accept me? _She thought to herself, swallowing. Then, she sprinted up the front steps of Konoha High School, her new school.

"Omigawd omigawd, like, there's Sasuke Uchiha!!!" Screeched many teenage girls, who looked mostly alike.

"AHHHHH!!! FEMBOTS!!!!" Naruto, Sasuke's best friend, screamed. He took off in the general opposite direction of the girls, leaving a cloud of dust behind him.

"I have to get to class." Sasuke himself growled, turning around sharply and continuing on behind Naruto, although not at quite the same velocity. A few girls fainted, and the rest merely stood there, mesmerized by his dark hair, dark eyes, and very white teeth.

"Ahhh, I have been touched by an angel!" faint

"Ugh, useless women." Sasuke muttered, as he entered his advanced calculus classroom, glancing around before taking his usual seat next to a window.

Sakura swallowed for about the fifteenth time that day. She was seated in the very back, next to a window, in the midst of a group of obviously nerdy girls chatting about last night's episode of some science show. Sakura sank in her seat, and looked out the window at what she guessed was the soccer field.

"Finally, Uchiha. Let's be on time from now on!" Boomed a silver-haired man with an eye patch. Sakura shot up, and looked at the door, where the most gorgeous looking guy she had ever seen in her life stood, glaring at the teacher.

"…Fine." Replied the gorgeous guy. Sakura tried not to drool. She watched him walk across the room.

He's walking towards me… oh no… I hope my deodorant holds out… oh my gosh he's going to-

Sakura blinked.

He just sat down in front of me. In front of me. Gorgeous whatever his name is sat down. In front of me. Sakura Haruno. This must be the sign of love at first sight!!!

A couple of girls glared at Sakura, and then turned their attention to the sensei. Although his hair was silver, his face was very smooth and young looking, and his body completely wrinkle and flab free. He had an eye patch, but the one eye that was showing was dark, and his eyebrow was arched perfectly. Sakura had the feeling it always did that. He wore an overcoat, which at the moment hid his mouth and nose. _He's not too bad, either… _Sakura thought, blushing brightly. 

"All right, everyone, it seems that now that Uchiha is here, we may begin." He said. Sakura smiled. At her last school, the teachers all called them "children." Sakura shuddered, and looked back at the sensei. "It also seems that we have a new student with us." Her head jerked up, and she froze. The sensei was leaning against his desk, looking right at her. The class followed his eye to Sakura, and then everyone was looking at her. She blushed again. "Stand up and tell us your name, young student!" She slowly stood up.

"I-I'm… Sakura Haruno." She said quietly. The sensei smiled, or at least his dark eye seemed to smile.

"Welcome to Konoha High, Miss Haruno." He said, and she blushed and nodded, and sat down quickly. The gorgeous guy looked back at her over his shoulder.

"That's Kakashi Sensei." He whispered. Sakura could only stare.

"Are you willing to share this with the class, Uchiha?" Kakashi Sensei snapped.

"…No."

"Then please turn your attention to me."

"…"

"Excuse me?"

"…Fine." Uchiha replied, leaning back in his seat and glaring at Kakashi. Kakashi rolled his eye.

"Right. Now, as you all know…"

Sakura rested her chin on her hand, and stared at Uchiha-Gorgeous Guy's back. He looked very good in the black blazer, white collared shirt, and dark blue tie that made up the school uniform. Sakura bet he made those ugly black pants look like Armani, too. She sighed. Was Uchiha his first name? It sounded nice. Uchiha…

Brrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnngggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, class was over. Sakura slowly stood up, and gathered her many heavy textbooks and notebooks. She searched for her schedule.

"Hmm… my next class is…"

"Excuse me."

Sakura looked up to see a very pretty tall blonde standing before her, blazer thrown stylishly over her shoulder, wearing over-the-knee socks that almost reached her skirt, which was quite obviously too short.

"Eh?" She said weakly, struggling to hold all of her books. The blonde rolled her eyes.

"I'm Ino. Let's get one thing straight, since you're new around here. Sasuke Uchiha is mine."

Ooh!! What's going to happen next? Please, pleeeeeeeease review! I wanna know how I'm doing!

Ciao,

Sakura


	2. Walking My Own Way

Just What I Needed

By Sakura Uchiha

Chapter Two: Walking My Own Way

A/N: Hey guys, sorry about the delay! Anyways, here is the second chapter of Just What I Needed. Please review and tell me how I'm doing, and thanks to those of you who review the first chapter! I will think about a ShikaIno, but I will not promise anything. Also, sorry for Naruto's lack of appearances in the first chapter. In this chapter, he makes quite the appearance, however! In any case, enjoy

Ino sashayed away with her crowd of clones, leaving a very confused Sakura.

So his name is Sasuke Uchiha… 

"Don't listen to her." Sakura snapped back to reality, and looked up to see Kakashi Sensei, hands shoved into the pockets of his overcoat. "You should know that Sasuke Uchiha is the most popular boy in this school. There is a _fan club _devoted to him-"

"And she's the president???" Sakura breathed in wonder. _Wow, Sasuke Uchiha must be something. _

"Precisely. You have no idea how many girls she has scared away… Besides, Sasuke's not all that great anyway." His eyes twinkled, and Sakura blushed again.

"…Why not?"

"He's disdainful, selfish, and only cares about one thing in this world."

"…What's that?" She leaned in, fascinated. Kakashi winked.

"I can't tell you!"

"Oh." She faltered, and sighed. She bent over to pick up her bag. "Well, thanks, Kakashi sen-"

"Call me Hatake."

The last class of the day was PE, Sakura's worst subject. She had zero hand eye coordination, and was so easily flustered that she had given up on the idea on the whole. She nervously marched out to the soccer field, tugging at her large white KONOHA HIGH tee shirt, tucked into black shorts. (A/N: Think classic Japanese gym uniforms…) _Maybe I could get a weird sickness with symptoms that only occur when I play soccer… _

The PE teacher wasn't there yet, but there was a group of girls standing near one of the goals. Sakura approached the group, and then stopped dead when she saw a familiar blonde ponytail swishing with the owner's every movement.

_Ino… pig. _She grimaced, but faced her fears and walked on.

"Oh look, it's the new girl with the big forehead!" Ino waved sarcastically, and Sakura flinched. She had always been a tad sensitive about her forehead. She tried to come up with a clever comeback, but was so flustered already that she just stood there, feeling very stupid. Ino threw her head back and laughed hysterically, her blonde ponytail flying.

"INO PIG!" She stammered. Ino's laughing ceased.

"Excuse me?"

"Y-you heard me!"

Ino's eye's narrowed and she took a step forward-

"All right ladies, welcome back, I hope your summer break was a good one! Today we will be playing soccer!" The PE teacher was a large woman with very short black hair, very big thighs and arms, and a whistle on a cord. Sakura already was unnerved. She shrunk to the back of the crowd.

Now she stood along the side of the field, moving around a bit and pretending to be useful, but half watching Ino at the goal.

"HEY BIG FOREHEADED GIRL!" Ino cried. Sakura whirled around and felt her hands gripping her oversized tee shirt. Her face reddened deeply, which Ino seemed to think hilarious.

"Haruno, it's yours!" The teacher cried, although Sakura had no idea as to how the heck she could know her name. She whirled around again, and ran towards the ball. She didn't know what she was doing; all she knew was that Ino would pay.

Ino crouched down, moving back and forth in front of the goal, making monkey noises. Sakura ran faster, kicking the ball and scrambling after it. She knocked down the opposing team members, she knocked down members of her own team, and she even knocked down the PE teacher!

BAM!

Two minutes later

"Oww… my head… owwwwww…" Ino moaned, lying down on the all-too-green grass. The entire class of girls stood around her, while the PE teacher ran to get the first aid kit.

"Omigosh, are you like, okay?!" Many girls (Ino's clones) chirped. Sakura stared at her feet. Did she really do that?

"WOO HOO! YEAH NEW GIRL!" Sakura shot up to see many boys back at the school building cheering. Sakura blushed heavily, and wished that she could crawl into a hole. She scratched the back of her head nervously, and looked at the crowd of boys. Sasuke Uchiha was not one of them.

Sakura felt slightly sick to her stomach as she walked home. She hadn't been given detention for Ino's "injury" but Sakura knew that she would be given much worse by Ino and her friends. She moaned and flopped down on a bench right off of the sidewalk, and slumped back. She had had a bad feeling about PE anyway, and now she had just made it worse for herself. She was in the wrong; Ino had merely called her a name. _I didn't need to hurt her… What the heck is wrong with me?! _She leaned forward and stared at her black school shoes. _Now everyone's going to think I'm some kind of thug… _

"Ahhh!" She yelled, receiving many looks from people passing by, but she really didn't care.

"Er… excuse me, I'm Naruto… you're Sakura, the girl who hit Ino in the head with a soccer ball… right?"

Sakura's head shot up to see a blonde runt looking at her nervously. He wore the school uniform, except that his tie was orange and his pants were too short, revealing mismatched socks – blue and orange- beneath them. He seemed to have something like cat whiskers. She nodded slowly. What a weird looking guy. He grinned, looking even more catlike.

"WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME?!!?" He cried, going down on one knee before her. She blushed furiously.

"No!" She shouted, and stood up very quickly, trying to ignore the hurt look in his baby blue eyes. She muttered an apology and ran off as fast as she could (which wasn't very fast…)  with tears streaming down her cheeks. _What's wrong with me?!_

smack!

"Ahhh!! I'm SO sorry!" Sakura stood up, having fallen backwards, and looked up to see Kakash- Hatake standing in front of her, still wearing the eye patch and overcoat. "O-oh! H-h-Hatake!" She cried, blushing once again. Hatake seemed to smile, then seemed to frown.

"Sakura… you're crying!"

"N-no I'm n-not!" She protested, but as she did so more tears fell down her cheeks. Hatake stared at her, and pulled her aside. He sat her down on another bench (A/N: What's with this city and all the benches?!?) and placed a hand on her shoulder. Sakura absently noticed that his hand was heavily bandaged.

"Anything you want to talk about?" He asked very softly, and Sakura nodded, choking on a sob.

"Today was horrible! I-I hit Ino in the head-"

"I heard."

"A-a-and then I was so mean to N-Naruto… E-everyone is going to hate me here!" She sobbed.

"Don't be ridiculous. No one hates you except Ino… and perhaps, Naruto… but, knowing him, he probably only likes you more for turning him down."

"H-how…?"

"I saw you do it. Bad move if you were hoping to get him off your back, you should know."

"O-oh… " She stuttered, and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She looked up at Hatake, whose eye was twinkling.

"Everything will be okay." Sakura blushed, and nodded, once again flustered. She stood up again.

"I have to go home, thank you, _Hatake." _She bowed quickly, and walked off fast, knowing that Hatake was still sitting on the bench, watching her go.

"Anytime, Sakura!" He called, and then she turned a corner, not looking back.

"Hm.. not a good idea to flirt with students, Sensei." A very smooth, deep voice reached Hatake's ears, and he turned around very slowly.

Ooooh!!! Who said that!? Find out in the nest chapter of _Just What I Needed!  _


	3. Chaos Ensues

Just What I Needed

Chapter Three- Chaos Ensues

By Sakura Uchiha

Disclaimer: If this is fanfiction, then I'm a fan, which means I couldn't have created the thing I'm a fan of, therefore I couldn't _own _it…

A/N: This chapter is a little bit longer than the two preceding chapters. I hope everyone enjoys it, and please review when you are done! Also, I switch between Kakashi's first and last name frequently- when around Sakura, he is referred to as "Hatake" but when around everyone else, he is referred to as Kakashi. : ) Also, this will not, I repeat, **_NOT _** end Sakukaka. The question is, however, how will Sakura open her eyes to the many boys that fall in love with her??? Eh anyways, I'm not very happy with this chapter, but I do not know why. Review please!

"Hm... not a good idea to flirt with students, Sensei." A very smooth, deep voice reached Hatake's ears, and he turned around very slowly.

"Oh, ohayo, Uchiha. Can I help you?" Hatake deadpanned. Sasuke took a step forward, out of the shade of the tree, and raised an eyebrow.

"Actually… I think _you're _the one who needs help here, _Sensei._" Sasuke replied, taking another step forward. Hatake bristled.

"Stay out of this, Sasuke. It doesn't concern you."

"Right. Like the last girl didn't." Sasuke snapped. Hatake shot up.

"I will only warn you once more, Uchiha, _stay out of it!" _Hatake said darkly. Sasuke rolled his eyes, and in a flash of dark clothing was gone. Hatake sank back down on the bench. "I really have a problem…" He muttered.

Sakura lived behind a shrine. It was the biggest shrine in Konoha, with many different rooms and beautiful architecture. It had been in her family for years, and once Sakura's parents died her brothers would inherit the shrine.

She reached her house, small in comparison to the shrine, and burst through the low white gate. She had been running since she stopped to talk with Hatake, for she didn't want to be late and worry her mother. She looked up from the latch of the gate…

"Oh… holy sh-"

"WILL YOU GO OUT WITH ME, SAKURA?!" About fifty boys wearing the Konoha High School uniform chorused. Sakura quivered. Naruto was there, front and center, with a bouquet of flowers, fighting off all of the other boys.

"SAKURA, WILL YOU MARRY ME?!" he cried, holding out his flowers.

"Eh…" She stepped back, swallowing. "Er… I have to-" She dashed off before the boys could hear the rest of her excuse.

_Yeesh, what a weird day! _

"Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood MORNING Konoha, rise and shine! It is seven thirty am and the sun is bright, bright, BRIGHT-"

smash

"Ungh…. I need a new alarm clock… preferably one that doesn't go off…" Sakura groaned, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. The pale light filtered in through the lacy curtains, and onto the soft rug. "Ahhh I need more sleep… hopefully today won't be so crazy as yesterday." She muttered, stumbling off the bed and picking up her uniform from the floor. She searched her drawers for another pair of navy blue knee socks, and then felt around her dresser for a brush. Five minutes later, she stood in front of her full-length mirror, making sure everything was pulled together.  "Well… it's as good as it's going to get, as usual…" She grabbed her school bag, and practically fell down the flight of stairs, receiving a glare from her mother.

"Don't be so clumsy, Sakura!" She yelled from her newspaper. Sakura shrugged, and reached for some toast.

I wonder what today will be like… what the heck were all of those guys doing here, they don't even know me! That one guy with the eyebrows was sure creepy… and then that guy with the long hair who kept glaring at Naruto… and Naruto, well he was just plain weird!

_And, what about Hatake? _

Or Ino… 

Sakura grumbled and finished her toast, and glanced at the clock.

"Seven forty five! Ohhh noooo!! I'm going to be late!" She squealed, falling off her chair and racing for the door. She flew outside and down the street, praying that she would get to Konoha High on time.

Ino slumped in her desk, staring at her reflection in the window. There was a huge bump on her forehead, marring her perfect face. _Why did she have to do that, I mean, I really didn't wanna hurt her feelings, I was just joking, kinda… ugh, now my forehead is worse than hers, anyway… I am not a pig!!! _

"You know, when you actually do bother to think, your facial expressions are kinda funny."

Ino whirled around and glared.

"Shut up, Shikamaru! Go bother someone else!" She hissed, knowing fully well that her face was bright red.

"Heh, you think I'm _trying_ to bother you? Why would I do that? You're too much of a pain in the ass to bother!" He snickered, and turned to face the front of the room.

"Idiot," She whispered, as Kakashi Sensei walked into the room in his usual trenchcoat and eyepatch. Many of the girls giggled and whispered (most of them not only belong to the Sasuke fan club, but also the Hatake Kakashi fan club.) but Ino merely turned her attention to Sasuke, who was sitting two seats ahead of her. _Dammit, why did Big Foreheaded girl get to sit behind him!?! Now she gets to stare at the back of his adorable head all of homeroom for the rest of the year!!_

"Homeroom… has begun." Kakashi announced, slamming his hands down on his desk for impact.

"You're late!" Naruto called from the back, and Kakashi scowled.

"That's one more hour on your next detention." He snapped. He quite obviously had a hangover. "Besides… I ran into a fearsome teenage mutant ninja turtle-"

Just then, Sakura burst through the door.

"Thank you for joining us, Miss Haruno." Kakashi said sarcastically, but then winked –well, sort of—at her to take the edge off of the comment, and she smiled back sheepishly. "Please take your seat."

Sakura fell into her seat behind Sasuke… and in front of Ino. Sasuke glanced over his shoulder at her, and Sakura, despite Hatake's warning, felt her heart melt. Ino, on the other hand, hissed into Sakura's ear, "watch it, punk." Sakura's legs turned to jelly.

"Uhh, s-sure," She stammered, and tried to focus on what Hatake was saying. She couldn't help but smile when she saw him, his hair completely defying all known laws of gravity, and how tired he looked. She couldn't help but wonder what his mouth looked like. It was hidden by the collar of the coat, and quite well so. And then his eye… Sakura sunk into her seat, not hearing a word of what he was saying. She was beginning to feel very warm.

"Pay attention," She heard someone whisper, and looked up. Sasuke was looking at her with an unreadable expression. "Having a crush will get you nowhere with him," He added, and then turned to face Hatake again. Sakura felt her face go completely red, and in that moment she knew today would be even crazier than yesterday.

Hello! I hope you liked it, if I'm making any characters too OOC, or if something seems out of place, tell me! Please review, but with constructive criticism! I want to get better at writing. So review!

Ciao,

Sakura

Ohayo- Shortened version of a Japanese greeting. Like saying, hey! __


	4. Chaos Continues To Ensue

Just What I Needed

By Sakura Uchiha

Chapter Four: Chaos Continues to Ensue…

A/N: Um… I won't say anything definite about Sakura and Hatake's relationship, other than yes, I do know it's gross and illegal. . Happy reading!

P.S: Yes, "reviewer," I did get that line from there. I just liked how… er, teenager-ish it sounded! And perhaps I will make Gaara and Sakura related… that sounds like an excellent idea, but I do not know if I will just yet. To the rest of you: if you have any ideas like that, tell me!!

"Pay attention," She heard someone whisper, and looked up. Sasuke was looking at her with an unreadable expression. "Having a crush will get you nowhere with him," He added, and then turned to face Hatake again. Sakura felt her face go completely red, and in that moment she knew today would be even crazier than yesterday.

Homeroom had ended. Now, Sakura stood in the hall amidst the rest of the student body, and checked her schedule.

"Hm… Next, I have… history of Konoha. Great." She muttered, putting away her schedule. She looked around-

"SAKURA!!" smack

"Oh… er, ohayo, Naruto." Sakura said, rubbing the back of her head, and getting up off the floor. Every boy who was in the hallway stopped dead, and stared at Sakura.

"SAKURA!!!!!" They all yelled, and ran to her.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!" Sakura screamed, and started running, when suddenly a boy with very thick eyebrows grabbed her and pulled her away from the crowd, into an empty classroom, and locked the door. Sakura was shaking, and turned to face the boy, her green eyes wide. "Wh-what's going on?!" She whispered. The boy laughed.

"My name's Rock Lee, and I just saved you!" He leaned in and puckered up. Sakura dashed to the other side of the room.

"Ahhh, um, well that's nice, but why were they all chasing me!?"

"…Don't you know? You have a fan club!" He said happily. "And, I'm the vice president! Every boy in Konoha High belongs to it, besides Sasuke Uchiha, some guy with a ponytail, and the science teacher."

--;

"WHAT?!! I HAVE A _FANCLUB?!?!" _She shrieked, and there was an odd silence.

THWACK

Rock Lee grinned. "Ah, I just love the sound of nearly every male in Konoha High smacking up against a locked door just to see the fair Sakura Haruno, who _I _happen to be sharing oxygen with!" He sighed dreamily. Sakura sweat dropped.

"But, why _me?" _She said over the pounding on the door. Rock lee wiggled his very thick eyebrows.

"Because! You stood up to Ino! No girl has ever done that!"

"But I-"

"No buts! Now, my fair damsel Sakura, we must escape!" He grabbed her arm, and pulled her to the windows. "We are going to jump out this window, into the pool, swim out of it, take our clothes off, and-"

_"ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!"_ Sakura shrieked at the top of her lungs. "_WE'LL KILL OURSELVES IF WE DO THAT!!!" _She wrenched free of Rock Lee's grip, and ran to the door. Rock Lee's eyes practically popped out of their sockets.

"YOU WON'T DO MUCH BETTER _THAT _WAY!" He screamed, running over to stop her before-

Too late.

"SAKURA!!!!! MARRY ME!!!"

"GO OUT WITH ME!!!!"

"I LOVE YOU!!!"

"I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN!"

"NO YOU AREN'T, I AM!"

"WHAT?! _I _AM!!"

"NO I AM!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

"I HAVE HER SCHOOL PICTURE FROM FIRST GRADE!"

"NO YOU DON'T! I DO!"

"SAKURA LOVES ME BEST CUZ I HAVE BIGGER EYEBROWS THAN ALL OF YOU!"

"SHE HATES YOU, FREAK! SHE LOVES ME MUCH MORE!"

But when they actually bothered to stop arguing, Sakura was gone.

"Hurry up!" Sasuke commanded. Sakura nodded, trying to run faster. They halted in front of a door labeled 247. "You're late," he reminded her, "but so is every boy in this school, so you won't have to worry too much." He added.

Sakura was bent over, panting. She looked up. Sasuke hadn't even broken a sweat!!

"Thank you…" She panted, wiping the perspiration from her forehead. "How did you…"

"Use your brain, idiot. About four hundred boys gathered up in one hallway tends to attract some attention." And then he was gone.

O.o _what is with that guy? … I'm not complaining, though… hee hee!  _Sakura opened the door to her History of Konoha classroom, preparing to be yelled at for being late.

Sasuke was right; only girls were in the classroom. Sakura bowed to the teacher, and quickly took a seat next to the window. A girl with short dark hair sat next to her. She was doodling pictures of Naruto all over her binder.

"Whoa, those are amazing!" Sakura said, as soon as the teacher had left to go look for the boys. The girl blushed.

"They're really not." She replied, adding a little more detail to Naruto's jacket.

"Yes, they are!" Sakura protested, leaning in to get a better look. She smiled. "Do you like him or something?"

"N-no…" She whispered. Sakura grinned. "-I love him." She added, and Sakura squealed.

"That's so cute! Are you two going out?"

"No…"

"Why not?!"

"He likes some other girl."

"Oh…" Sakura faltered, feeling horrible. She was that 'some other girl.'! She tried to smile.

"So, what's your name?" She asked. The girl smiled.

"Hinata, and you must be the famous Sakura Haruno."

"How does everyone know me!?!!"

"That scene with Ino yesterday… Everyone saw that…."

"E-everyone?!"

"I think so." She giggled. "You were amazing! I don't even have the guts to look at her, let alone hit her in the head with a soccer ball!"

"But I really didn't-"

Just then, about fifteen boys made their way into the classroom, followed by the teacher. Sakura shrunk in her seat, and then noticed that Hinata had slyly placed a note on her desk. Sakura waited until the teacher's back was turned to the board, and then opened it.

_You probably haven't met him yet, but my cousin Neji is also a big fan._

_Really?_

_Yes! You know what's funny, I just thought of this. You have a fan club made up of half the student body, and you are the only girl who isn't in the Sasuke Uchiha fan club. Sasuke Uchiha also has a fan club made up of the other half of the student body, and he's the only guy who isn't in your fan club! _

_…So?_

_So!! You two should get together!_

_Hinata, you are very nice and sweet, but also very, very weird._

_I know. ;)_

This chapter came out a little more lighthearted than the last one. I gave a little interaction between Sakura and Rock Lee, and Naruto, and Neji was mentioned to her.   Please review, and thanks to all of you who have reviewed! Ciao,

Sakura.


	5. Chaos is STILL Ensuing

Just What I Needed

By Sakura Uchiha

A/N: Thank you to all of you who have reviewed! It's very encouraging. . Anyways, I use a joke from the movie Airplane in this chapter… so, I don't own it. But in any case, voila! Chapter five of Just What I Needed, brought to you by Sakura Uchiha!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Airplane.

Chapter Five: Chaos Is Still Ensuing

_So!! You two should get together!_

_Hinata, you are very nice and sweet, but also very, very weird._

_I know. ;)_

Sakura barely made it to lunch she was so tired. Between regular school, being chased by rabid fan boys, avoiding Ino, and looking for Hatake, she hadn't had one moment to herself. Now, she debated whether to actually go into the cafeteria, or just skip lunch.

If I go into the cafeteria, I'll have to worry about Ino, and the fan boys. If I don't, I might miss Hatake… and I'll definitely miss lunch.

Sakura's stomach rumbled.

"Ungh… so hungry… so tired…" She moaned to herself, leaning up against the wall of the bathroom. (It proved to be an excellent place to hide.) Where was Hinata?

Sakura crept out of the bathroom. Either way, she'd have to get out of there, anyways, so why not get out before anyone came in?

She peered around the corner.

"Sakura!" Sakura looked around to see Hatake standing discreetly by the water fountain.

"Hatake!" She whispered. She darted to where he was standing, and he pulled her into his classroom, which was empty. Once inside,

"Having some trouble with those fan boys?" He laughed. Sakura blushed.

"They're everywhere!" She leaned against his desk, noticing again how tired and hungry she was. "If this keeps up, I might have a nervous breakdown!"

"Don't do that! Anyway, did you bring a lunch?" He motioned to her messenger bag, which was sagging with the weight of all of her notebooks and textbooks. Sakura shook her head, taking the bag off her shoulder, and putting it on the desk.

"I was hiding in the bathroom, debating whether I should chance it, you know, going into the cafeteria, when I decided I'd have to leave the bathroom anyway, so why not get that over with first?" She laughed, and looked up at Hatake's handsome face. Their eyes locked, and then Sakura looked away, blushing heavily.

"Good idea," He replied, and handed her a rice ball. "You should eat." She accepted it, and scarfed it down while Hatake ate one, also. They ate in comfortable silence. Sakura finished first.

"Arigatou, Hatake." She said, breaking the silence. Hatake smiled, and nodded. Sakura couldn't help but once again notice how young he looked. "Hatake, you look too young to be a teacher. What are you doing here? You look like a college student."

"Well, I finished college a little early, got my degree in teaching and all that, and I knew that Konoha high school needed a calculus teacher, so I got an interview and they accepted me almost instantly!"

"Wow, that's great. How old are you? How early did you finish college???" She asked, then immediately realized she sounded a little too interested. Hatake didn't seem to notice, he just laughed.

"I'm twenty three."

"Oh, I had a feeling it was something like that. Whoa, most math teachers I've had were really old!"

"Yes, but they probably made better choices. I'm not experienced enough in teaching, so I only teach advanced calculus because it's a _much _smaller environment. You see, I came here midway through last year. I quickly realized I was too young and inexperienced to teach a regular math class…" He stopped. "You're not listening, are you?" He was irritated. Sakura blushed again.

"I'm, er, sorry…" She stammered. Once again she was staring at his very handsome face. He pretended to be offended, then when he saw that she didn't understand that he was only kidding, stopped.

"It's okay." He said, his eye(s) twinkling. Sakura reddened again. _He's a teacher, Sakura! He's too old for you! _

"Th-thank you… for lunch." She smiled shyly. He shrugged.

"Anything to help a cute student!" He winked, and Sakura suddenly felt very sick to her stomach.

"Eh…hahaha." She laughed uneasily, blushing so much that the blush reached her ears. "Well, I had better go to my locker and get my books for my next class before anyone can get me! Bye!" She dashed out of the room before Hatake could point out that she was carrying all of her books already, and that her next class was Advanced Calculus, and also that lunch wasn't even a third over yet.

She could only run blindly down the halls, clutching the strap of her bag. _He couldn't have meant it; he's a teacher! He's too old for me! I'm not cute! _Her inner self screamed. She ran through the doors and then she was outside, in the garden area where the trees smelled sweet with cherries. She continued to run through the garden, hidden from the sun by the thick coverage of the Sakura trees. She stopped at the end of the garden, which was a paved circle in a grove of Sakura trees, panting, and her hands on her knees. She slumped down on a bench, and then lay down on the stone bench, her legs hanging awkwardly off it, her bag on the ground. "Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!" She let out a yell, and curled up into the fetal position. _Why can't I just have a normal life? Why did I have to hit Ino with the soccer ball? Why do I have to be attracted to my teacher!?!? _She felt tears sliding down her cheeks, and she covered her face with her arms. _Why am I so weird?!! _

"Shut up down there! I'm trying to _study!" _A very harsh voice hissed from above. Sakura lifted her head, revealing her tear-streaked cheeks. "… Oh, it's _you." _ The branches parted to reveal Sasuke, with many books resting on various branches around him.

"Oh my gosh! Sasuke! I'm so sorry…!" She suddenly remembered her tears, and hid her face.

"There's no point in hiding, I already heard you sobbing down there!" He said irritably, and jumped down silently from the tree.

O.O

"That's so high up! How'd you do that!?" She gasped, sitting up. Sasuke folded his arms across his chest, and rolled his eyes.

"It's just a simple jump." He snorted. Sakura felt very embarrassed.

"Er… right. Well, I'm very sorry for bothering you." She apologized quickly. She got up, picking up her bag, but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait." He whispered. Sakura then heard a low roar. Her eyes widened.

"It sounds like a stampede…" She breathed, and then suddenly the leaves of cherry trees surrounded her. "How'd you do that?!!?" She hissed at Sasuke, who covered her mouth with his hand instantly.

"SAKURA WHERE ARE YOUUUUUUUUU?!!?"

"SAKURA MY SWEET DON'T HIDE!"

"SAKURA I LOVE YOU!"

"SAKURA! LET'S GO MINIATURE GOLFING!"

"SAKURA, I'LL BUY YOU A GOLDFISH!"

"NO YOU WON'T! I WILL!"

"YOU'RE BOTH WRONG! I WILL!"

The grove was filled with the male population of Konoha High, led by Naruto and Rock Lee.

Sasuke muttered a number of expletives that could have made Naruto blush and his grip tightened on her wrist as a warning to be silent. They watched the boys search everywhere. Then…

"I guess she's not here." Rock Lee announced.

'Don't even breathe' Sasuke mouthed, and Sakura did as told, the tension in the air so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"Y'think?" Naruto asked sarcastically, and Rock Lee's thick eyebrows twitched.

"Don't be so fresh with me!"

"Ha! I'm the PRESIDENT of the Fan Club. You're just the VICE PRESIDENT. Surely, Sakura likes me better!"

"Don't call me Shirley!"

"I didn't!"

"Yes, you did! And I quote, 'Shirley, Sakura likes me better!"

"I said 'Surely!"

"Exactly! And my name's not Shirley!"

"I know it's not!! How can you name someone after an adverb?"

"…What the hell is an adverb!?"  Rock lee's eyebrows twitched again, this time in confusion. Naruto grinned maliciously.

"They say I'M dumb! Well, now, at least I can say that I surely am not as dumb as Rock Lee! I KNOW what an adverb is! Ha!" Naruto cried in triumph. You could almost hear the trumpets playing in his head… Rock Lee's blood boiled.

"Now you're calling YOURSELF Shirley!"

"What!?! No I'm not!!"

"Yes you are!" Rock Lee pointed an accusatory index finger at Naruto. Or… he pointed what he _thought _was an index finger. Instead, he flipped Naruto off.

"HOW DARE YOU FLIP ME OFF!?!? YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

And Chaos Ensued.

Eh… heheh! What a weird chapter! Very corny, too.. Coming up in Chapter Six of Just What I Needed! Sakura meets Hinata's creepy cousin Neji, goes out on a date with Rock Lee, and has her very first kiss! But from whom…? 


	6. Goldfish, Dates, and a First Kiss!

Just What I Needed

By Sakura Uchiha

A/N: Wow, thanks for all the reviews! You guys are the best! I'm glad that at least some people thought that the whole "Shirley" thing was funny… when I saw that in airplane, I was laughing so hard I was crying!… Airplane is a really funny movie… I think everyone should see it! Hahaha.

Disclaimer: Wow, I am really Kishimoto, a Japanese guy who created an internationally renowned manga… but I'm posing as some Sasuke-obsessed girl from America! Not.

Enjoy!

Chapter Six: Goldfish, Dates, and a first Kiss!!

:::Recap::::

"They say I'M dumb! Well, now, at least I can say that I, surely, am not as dumb as Rock Lee! I KNOW what an adverb is! Ha!" Naruto cried in triumph. You could almost hear the trumpets playing in his head… Rock Lee's blood boiled.

"Now you're calling YOURSELF Shirley!"

"What!?! No I'm not!!"

"Yes you are!" Rock Lee pointed an accusatory index finger at Naruto. Or… he pointed what he _thought _was an index finger. Instead, he flipped Naruto off.

"HOW DARE YOU FLIP ME OFF!?!? YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

And Chaos Ensued.

:::End of Recap:::

"Hn. Freaks." Sasuke muttered. Sakura silently giggled, clutching her stomach. Naruto was so funny!

Naruto lunged at Rock Lee, who dodged Naruto with ease. He jumped to the side, and pulled out a pencil.

"This'll do for now…" He said. He fell into a fighting stance, and threw the pencil at Naruto, who countered it with his Algebra textbook.

"Rock Lee… may I be frank with you?" He asked as he hurled the textbook at Rock Lee. Rock Lee fell backwards from the blow and rubbed his eyebrows.

"What?!! You just said you were Shirley!" He screamed. At this, Sakura just couldn't take it anymore. She burst into laughter. Sasuke bugged out.

"Shaddup!" He hissed, slamming his hand against her mouth.

"Ahhh!" Sakura cried. She grabbed at Sasuke, and her fingers caught on his blazer. She fell backwards out of the tree, and fell into the field between the soccer field and the lacrosse field, where they didn't bother mowing down the grass. She landed face-up, when Sasuke promptly landed facedown on top of her.

"You idiot!" Sasuke hissed. Sakura felt her face blush brightly. "Stay down," He whispered. Luckily, the grass was so tall that they were (hopefully) hidden from the fan boys. Sakura gulped.

"SAKUUUUUUUUUURA!!!!! WHERE DID YOU GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!"

"SAKURA!"

"SAKURA WE SAW YOU! COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!"

"YOU CAN RUN YOU CAN HIDE BUT YOU CAN'T ESCAPE MY LOVE!"

Sakura felt Sasuke grimace at the bad pop-song reference. "Don't move." His breath tickled her ear, and once again she was tomato red. "O-okay," She whispered, gripping the grass tightly. Sasuke's head was next to hers, but her feet only reached his knees. Dang, he was tall! She could hear the pounding of many hundred feet on the ground. Thankfully, they were pretty close to the tree, so they probably wouldn't get stampeded on.

"Okay, in a moment I am going to roll over and into the bushes. Once you hear me whisper your name, you are going to follow suit!" He hissed. Sakura gulped again.

"What if I don't hear you-"

"You will!"

"SAKURAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"WHERE ARE YOU MY LOVE?!"

Sakura stared hard at the wispy white clouds and the bright blue sky. She wished that Sasuke would just roll over, but then again she didn't.

_What the hell is wrong with me?! _ She thought, then looked down. Sasuke was gone!

"Sakura!" He hissed from the bushes. She drew in a deep breath, and rolled over, and into the bushes. She continued to roll until she was on the cement walkway of the grove. She let out the breath she had been holding, and looked up. Sasuke was standing over her, holding out his hand to her. She accepted his hand, and stood up, brushing off her uniform.

"Brilliant!" She whispered. Sasuke didn't reply, but tilted his head towards the school.

"Let's just get back to class." He whispered, and then started running.  Sakura ran after him, but she knew she would never be able to keep up! She was halfway to the building, and she had already lost sight of Sasuke. It didn't really matter though, she knew the fan boys were still roaming through the tall grass, calling her name pleadingly.

She was panting and sweating when she reached her advanced calc class, and no one seemed to be in the room. She burst through the door, where she saw Sasuke reading from a page in the textbook. Hatake was hidden behind a large book.

_…Why would he be reading a teenage girls' magazine? _She walked over to him, and pulled away the magazine.

"Ohayo, Hatake!" She said. Sasuke lifted his head. Hatake's eye twinkled at Sakura.

"Ohayo Sakura, where were you? …Did you find your textbooks?" He asked slyly. Sakura blushed.

"Eheheh… I forgot that this was my next class!" She grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. Sasuke shook his head, and looked back at his textbook. 'Do they even REALIZE I'm in here too?! What if I were someone like that Shikamaru guy, or Ino, or someone! They'd be caught!' He thought to himself.

"Hai, well it is your second day!" Hatake laughed.

"…Why were you reading a girls' magazine, if you don't mind my asking…?"

"Oh…" Hatake laughed nervously and held up a small book with a voluptuous blonde and a very happy man on the cover running hand in hand. "Students tend to tease me about my ahem _literature, _so…" He was laughing very hard now, and Sakura couldn't help but giggle. Sasuke rolled his eyes, and made puking motions at Hatake.

"Alright there, Sasuke?" Sakura asked, smiling.

"So you're on a first-name basis with me, ALSO, huh?" Sasuke smirked as Sakura's eyes widened, and she blushed very, very pink. It made her hair look pale in comparison.

"I-I…" She stammered. Sasuke just looked down at his book again, and Hatake stuck out his tongue immaturely.

"Remember what I told you about Uchiha, Sakura…" Hatake said loudly. Sasuke's head snapped back up. He scowled at Hatake.

Just then, mostly female students came in. They were very loud, talking about  "That annoying new girl who dared stand up to Ino!" Sakura took her seat behind Sasuke and across the room from the girls, feeling very sick to her stomach. A note landed on her desk in the shape of an origami crane. It was quite beautiful; Sakura almost didn't want to open it, but she saw writing on it, so she proceeded to open it very carefully.

_Didn't you listen to me this morning, in homeroom? You are tactless, I swear. _

It was neatly written on the page in black ink that had a silvery shine to it. She frowned, and in her own messy scrawl, wrote,

_Who said I liked him!? _

She folded it into a very crumpled up airplane, and threw it at the back of Sasuke's head. She saw his shoulders go up, but he snatched it before it fell to the ground. He wrote something very quickly, and in an instant it came back as a perfect origami kite. Sakura scowled.

_It's written all over your face, in bright red. _

She scribbled back,

_So what if I do? He's still very young, you know. _

Once again, it was returned to her immediately, this time in the shape of a lantern. She prevented herself from screaming in frustration at Sasuke, and opened it very quickly.

_Young enough for it to be LEGAL? Oh, and, did I mention, not COMPLETELY disgusting?_

_No but that doesn't make it wrong!!!_

It came back in the shape of a frog. "Press on its hind legs, it jumps." He whispered. Sakura threw a pencil at him, which he took. "Thanks," he grinned, "I needed a pencil."

"Um, if Miss Haruno and Mr. Uchiha would be so kind as to stop, we could begin the lesson…" Both of them looked up. Everyone, even the fan boys, had arrived. Sakura felt a blush creeping up her face. Sasuke glared at Hatake, then shrugged indifferently and bent over his notebook, prepared to take what Sakura knew were perfect notes.

"S-sorry," She said quietly. Hatake nodded, and turned back to the board.

"Now, if you look at this set of numbers…"

Sakura didn't, instead she carefully opened the frog-shaped note.

_Listen to me now. Kakashi, or "Hatake" is a teacher. He is too old. He's been with a student before, trust me on this. He was caught. You are in danger of suffering serious consequences. You, Sakura, are not careful enough to pull off a secret relationship. As I said before, you are TACTLESS. Kakashi got let off the hook the last time; it will not happen again. _

Sakura shrunk in her seat. Would Sasuke lie to her? Why was he telling her all of this? Why did he even bother? And mostly, how did he even know about the last student?

I don't believe you. It's a black and white kind of thing, if he was caught then he'd be in jail, no buts about it!

She slipped the note along the windowsill. Sasuke, without even looking, reached over his shoulder and grabbed the note.

It came back along the windowsill, this time in the shape of an umbrella! The handle was her pencil. Sakura shook her head, and pulled apart the top.

It wasn't in this school… I'll tell you later if you really want to know. It's too risky here; if we get caught Kakashi will be pissed.

_P.S. I was just kidding about the pencil. Stop throwing stuff at me, one day you just might not get it back. _

Sakura stifled a giggle, then looked up at Hatake, and scribbled down some notes. She already knew most of this, she had learned it during the summer while going through her textbooks.

Lol! Well, back to Hatake… I do want to know. Maybe one of these times we end up hiding from fans together you can explain it to me.

It came back along the windowsill as a phoenix.

What the hell does 'lol' mean?! If it means something stupid like 'lots of love' I swear I'll kill you.

Sakura giggled out loud, then clapped a hand over her mouth. Everyone turned to look at her, and Sasuke groaned, sweat dropping.

"Something about negative numbers is quite amusing, I'm guessing…" Kakashi said to the class. Everyone laughed, and Sakura sank further into her seat. The lesson continued on without any note passing.

The class finally ended, and all Sakura had left was a study hall, and then gym! Sakura ran to the room where her study hall took place. Finally, a moment to herself! She skipped down the empty hallways; Hatake had held her back a little to ask her to please stop giggling with Sasuke… Sakura had detected a hint of jealousy to his voice! She was skipping quite happily until she heard footsteps. Around the corner came a very tall, dark haired guy. He had piercing eyes and Sakura froze where she stood. He looked at her, and raised an eyebrow. He kept walking, leaving Sakura trembling. What was it about those eyes….!?

Sakura walked home very slowly, staring at the ground. It felt like she had been at school for weeks, but really, she had only finished her second day. Was this how the rest of the year was going to be, crawling by like an ant?! She felt tears pricking her vision, and she stopped to wipe them away. Just then she noticed something very odd at her feet. It was a goldfish in a small sandwich bag, filled with water and tied into a knot at the top… like the goldfish you got at carnivals. Sakura bent down and picked it up, and held it to the light. It was a very pretty goldfish, vibrant in color and swimming around in the bag. She giggled, forgetting about her tears. She held onto the bag tightly, and began to walk a little more lively, when she saw something… VERY odd.

Several hundred bags alike to the one she held now lay on the sidewalks lining her street, and it was anybody's bet that they contained goldfish… Sakura whimpered, and looked around for someone else. Were these here for a reason?!

"So… my dear Sakura." Sakura whirled around and there stood Rock Lee, grinning like he'd won the lottery. "How do you like the goldfish?"

O.O

"Uh… they're very nice, Rock Lee, but… you didn't have to get me that many!"

Rock Lee's eyebrows twitched. "What!? I only gave you one, though!" He then saw the rest of the bags, and his jaw dropped.

"SAKURA! I BET YOU JUST LOVE THE GOLDFISH I GAVE -- ROCK LEE!?!?" Naruto popped out from behind a bush. "What are you doing here?!"

"Well, _I _was just innocently giving Sakura a goldfish-"

"You copycat! I THOUGHT OF GIVING HER THE GOLDFISH!!" Naruto shrieked, lunging at Rock Lee. Then, several hundred boys in Konoha High uniforms appeared.

"WHAT?! THAT WAS MY IDEA!!" Chorused four hundred and twenty six boys. Sakura was about to scream, when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach, like someone was grabbing her around the waist. Suddenly she was at the top of a tree, sitting neatly on a branch.

"Sasuke?!" She whispered. Sasuke nodded, then pressed a finger to his lips.

"WAIT A MINUTE! WHERE'D SAKURA GO!?"

Sasuke smirked, and dropped down on the ground silently. Naruto looked up.

"Sasuke bastard! Have you seen Sakura Chan, the most wonder-"

"Yeah." He interrupted, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the tree. There was silence on the street.

Sasuke pointed to the radio tower. "She was running that way." Four hundred and twenty eight boys ran to the radio tower. Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Sasuke jumped back up.

"Safe." He said. Sakura smiled.

"Thank you, Sasuke!" She threw her arms around him. He just kept saving her from these crazy fan boys!

"Whatever." Came the indifferent reply. Sakura scowled.

"How can I thank you for this without you being so… whatever about it!?" She cried. Sasuke smirked.

"This way." He leaned in and suddenly, his lips were pressed against hers. They were very soft. Sakura felt his eyelashes against her eyes; he had closed his eyes.

Oh no… is he really kissing me?! [this aint too bad, having a total hottie kiss you!] What!? No! What will Hatake-

Sasuke pulled away. "What are you going to do with all these goldfish?"

"I-I- uhhh I dunno!" She stammered. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I doubt you have enough bowls at home… and we can't just leave them here…" Sasuke climbed along a branch and stared

down at the goldfish. "Hold on," and then he was on the ground. Sakura was trembling too much to follow. _Sasuke just kissed me. Sasuke Uchiha, most popular boy in Konoha High, just kissed me. My first kiss! _Sakura closed her eyes and clung to the branch. _And look at him, he's STILL so… whatever-ish! Agh I don't get him… _

Sakura opened her eyes. She was surrounded by goldfish. Sasuke was panting; it was the first time she'd ever seen him break a sweat.

"Okay… there are four hundred, twenty seven and a half-" he pointed at one bag with a goldfish swimming around its bag, headless, "-goldfish, and if we don't do something soon…"

"They'll DIE!" Sakura cried. Sasuke nodded.

"What can we do…?"

…

"I've GOT it!" Sakura yelled. Sasuke looked up. "My family has a swimming pool… we can just put them in there for now! It's brilliant, I can't believe I-"

"Is the swimming pool _filled up!?" _Sasuke asked without looking up. Sakura faltered.

"Oh. No…. BUT I can always call my older brother Gaara and tell him to fill it up! He always does anything I ask him to!" She squealed. She whipped out her cell phone.

"Hey… Gaara? It's Sakura."

"School was fine. But, I was just calling because…"

"No, no one beat me up."

"Yes, I ate lunch."

"No, I didn't forget any homework."

"Why the heck would a tiger be- Ahhh, never mind. The reason I called, is…"

"Well, I was wondering… can you fill up the swimming pool right now?"

"What?! Why can't we-"

"Oh. Well… in that case… could you by any chance dig a hole… and, I'm just gauging how big it should be, you know, just an _example…" _She looked around at the goldfish. "Say… big enough to fit, oh, maybe, four hundred, twenty seven and a half LIVE goldfish… And then fill it up with water…"

"No, no one offered me drugs."

"No, I didn't ask for them either."

"Uhhh well you know goldfish are an excellent way to measure things!"

"So, you'll do it?"

"Great! I'll be home in a little while!"

She put away her cell phone. Sasuke's eye was twitching. "What? Was it something I said?"

"I'm-- pant-- HOME!" Sakura cried, falling through her front door, weighed down by two hundred plus goldfish. Sasuke fell down right next to her. Gaara came to the door, and just stared.

"Um… a little help?" Sakura squeaked in her sweetest voice. Gaara continued to stare.

Sakura's life had just gotten weird. Not that it wasn't already weird, what with having a hole filled with four hundred twenty seven and a half goldfish swimming around in watered down Pepto-Bismol in your backyard, but, you know, these things happen.

In precisely three days, she would be going on a date with ROCK LEE!

This story just gets more and more ridiculous. Anyways, boy is it long! Hee hee I hope I didn't bore anyone to death! Coming up in Chapter Seven of Just What I Needed! A cute bistro, fan boys hidden behind potted plants and entrée carts, Gaara being WAY too protective, and a dark secret…

Ciao,

Sakura.


	7. Surprise!

Just What I Needed

By Sakura Uchiha

Rating: PG13

A/N: This chapter is a tad more serious than the other ones, hence I had the most difficulty writing this one out of all the chapters so far. If some parts don't match up, or there are mechanical errors, forgive me, I proofread this twice and that's it, and I was in a hurry. This chapter is also very long. Hopefully next chapter will be funnier! Oh, and thank you for all the reviews! It's so inspiring to think that there are people who actually enjoy reading some of the crap I post! Lol.

Chapter Seven: Surprise!

"Hey, pain in the ass!"

Ino looked away from the window, and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, go away, Shikamaru." She whined, and looked back out the window.

"You're such a pain in the ass." He scowled and turned away. Ino sighed. _I've been told as much. _

She liked Sasuke a whole lot, more than she liked that loser Shikamaru, with all of his stupid piercings and that hideous tattoo. And that stupid ponytail on top of his head! At least Sasuke had style…

Sasuke entered the room at that moment, looking more tired and pissed off than usual. Ino involuntarily sighed happily at his onyx eyes and silky black hair. He was SO much cooler than Shikamaru! He nearly fell into his seat, and exchanged glares with Kakashi sensei. Ino suppressed a giggle. She loved it when he glared at people-

"Heyyyyyyyyyy Miss pain-in-my-tight-ass, could you give this to Sasuke?" Ino's eyes narrowed at Shikamaru.

"Fine." She snapped, and snatched a folded up note from Shikamaru's hand, and sauntered over to in front of Sasuke.

"Oh, Sasuke, that-" she jabbed a manicured finger at Shikamaru,"-asked me to give this to you." She giggled, and Sasuke, without even looking up at her, grabbed the note. He tore it open, read it, and crumpled it up. He turned back to Shikamaru.

"Why me? How the heck could you even-"

"Lucky guess." Shikamaru grinned without happiness, more like baring his crooked, slightly yellow teeth from smoking. Ino grimaced.

"Hmph. I'll think about it." Sasuke turned away, and looked back at his notes. Ino sighed and went back to her seat behind him, only she was also behind that annoying wide fore headed girl-

"Sakura Haruno?" Kakashi was taking attendance. Shikamaru watched as a pretty pink haired girl stumbled into the classroom, stammering apologies right and left to Kakashi. Kakashi's eye twinkled at Sakura, and she blushed pinker than her hair. Shikamaru rolled his eyes. He liked girls with attitude, thank you very much. He didn't see why the hell ANYONE would make a fan club for her, even though she DID stand up to Ino… but somehow, Shikamaru couldn't help but think it might have been more of an accident. Sakura certainly didn't seem too spunky… not like Ino. He rested his chin on a tattooed hand, and stared at Ino as she flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. Now THERE was a girl who'd cut you for anything… He resisted the urge to smile and act lovesick; instead he reached out a hand and yanked on Ino's ponytail.

"YEOWWW!!" Ino screeched, and everyone in the room fell silent, just staring at Shikamaru and Ino. Shikamaru bared his yellowed teeth at Ino, and her face went bright red in fury. Shikamaru retracted his hand and ducked under his desk.

"Hit the deck! She's pissed, people!" He yelled. Ino's beautiful eyes just narrowed into slits.

"Aw c'mon Shikamaru, quit bugging her and go back outside to the streets, where you belong with all of your other creepy drug addict friends!" Someone yelled, and Kakashi sighed.

"All right everyone, could we at LEAST get through attendance?!" He snapped. Another hangover, probably.

Shikamaru sluggishly climbed back into his seat, and slumped into his previous position, where his chin rested in his hand, staring at the back of Ino's head.

Stupid annoying pain in the ass. She thinks she's so much better than me, just because she's all preppy and popular. Yuck. I'll show her. She won't know what hit her! This weekend, I swear, I'll tell her how I feel at the show! She won't be able to resist my charm and guitar-skills. Ha! Watch out, Ino, you annoying pain in the ass!

Sakura was late yet again. She sighed, and leaned over in her seat. How was she ever going to get through this week, let alone a whole year?!

"Ah… wha?" She looked away from the window, and there was a note on her desk, in the shape of a basket. She smiled, and set to work opening it.

How are the goldfish?

Lol, they r fine. Sadly, i have 2 sacrifice my whole Saturday 4 them.

When are you going to tell me what "lol" means? And why do you have to sacrifice your –hole- Saturday for them?

Sakura clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. It was a corny pun, but nevertheless, he was joking with her! She felt a warm blush creep up her cheeks, and she quickly scribbled back,

First u have 2 tell me bout the –hole- situation with Hatake's old student! And, I'm goin on a date w/ Rock Lee. He was the 1 who filled up the –hole- 4 me, in exchange 4 a date on Saturday.

An all day date?

No but I usually take all day 2 get ready for dates

Oh. Where are you two going for the date?

Well 1st he's taking me 2 sum new place 2 eat dinner where we're going 2 c Shikamaru's band.

Look for me on stage when you're there.

Y? r u playing?

Yes, I'm filling in for the guitarist, I think.

I didn't kno u played!

You never asked.

R there ne other secret talents I should kno about?

She saw him grin as he passed back the note.

I have –many- secret talents.

OooOo, maybe sum time u'll fill me in on these secret talents?

Homeroom ended with a loud ring from the bell, and Sakura grinned at Sasuke, who merely glanced back at her, and exited the classroom. Sakura scowled and banged her fist on her desk. When was he going to stop doing that to her?!

Shikamaru stormed down the hallway to what should have been his first class, but really he was going outside, ditching the rest of the day. It didn't matter; he already knew he wouldn't be allowed to graduate. Damn teachers, don't they know that in the real world grades don't matter? He pulled out a cigarette just as he reached the doors, when he heard someone calling him.

"Hey! Shikamaru!"

"Sasuke… what are you doing? Trying to bother me about my smoking-"

"I don't give a damn about your addictions, I just wanted to tell you that I'll fill in for your guitarist on Saturday." Sasuke snarled, and Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"Y-you will?! Aw, dude, this is great! I never thought-"

"Yeah whatever. I have a class to get to, so bye." Sasuke turned around and darted off in what Shikamaru believed might have been the science building. He leaned against the door. There's got to be some… ahhh what's it called… interior decorating? No…interior… it's interior something… no, not interior… sounds like it, though… hey, that's right, ulterior motive! Ha! Who's smart, man?!

"Oh… by the way!" Shikamaru called, and he saw Sasuke slide to a stop, and heard his shoes screech on the linoleum floor. "…I have your guitar pick you left on your desk on Monday, that's how I knew you played!" He called, and he distinctly heard a "hmph" before Sasuke took off for his class again. Shikamaru chuckled. Didn't he want it back? Shikamaru turned the pick over in his pocket; it was plain black. Very Sasuke, in other words. Plain and simple… but still somehow very cool. Shikamaru had to agree with Ino, Sasuke was really cool… but not "OMIGAWD HE'S SOOO HAWT" cool. Ew, that would be gross, he thought, while continuing through the doors, shaking his head.

Sakura fell into her seat in History of Konoha next to Hinata, who offered her a shy smile. Sakura grinned.

Do you have a cell phone?

Yeah, do u?

Wanna text message? It's a lot easier to hide from the teacher.

Sure!

Sakura tossed her response back to Hinata, along with her number, and slowly pulled out her cell phone, strategically hiding it behind her notebook, making it appear as though she was taking excellent notes.

So… anything new?

Yeah a lot u need 2 come over my house this sat.

Why?

I'll tell u l8r but can u?

Yes, of course.

Sakura grinned triumphantly, and glanced up to make sure the teacher still thought she was taking notes.

"Thank you so much for coming, Hinata." Sakura bowed as Hinata shyly stepped inside. She closed the door behind her, and they stood silent in the foyer.

"Um… n-n-no problem." Hinata whispered. Sakura blushed.

"Outside. Follow me." Sakura led Hinata through a door into the living room, which was connected to the back porch by stylish French doors. The two girls stood on the patio, staring in awe.

"H-how m-many?!"

"Well, a few have died, so I'm not exactly sure, but I started with four hundred twenty seven and a half…"

"What is the pinkish stuff?"

"Watered down Pepto-Bismol." Sakura blushed pinker than the Pepto Bismol itself.

"So… what am _I _supposed to do?"

The first week of school had ended, and now it was the weekend. Teenagers were everywhere, obviously still in their summer-Friday night- routine. Inside a cute bistro called Salmon Ella, it was packed, though the owner, Ella, couldn't figure out why. Strangely enough, there was one couple seated in the back, a heterosexual couple, while seated at almost all of the other tables was homosexual couples, and they all seemed to be male. This had never happened before, in the bistro's entire history. Ella paced her office, but could not come up with an answer. Instead, she sat down and gobbled up an entire box of Hershey bars.

"Ahhh, I cannot believe I am on a date with the fair damsel Sakura!" Rock Lee said loudly, stretching back in his seat and nearly tipping over both table and chair in the process. Sakura blushed, and stared at the mosaic on the tabletop. It was very pretty. In fact, everything about the bistro was pretty. It was made to look like an outdoor European café, with a cobblestone floor, walls painted with vines and such, and a fountain in the middle. There were many potted plants around, and the ceiling was painted a deep blue, which could look like a night or day sky depending on whether the twinkle lights were turned on or not. Sakura would have liked it much better had she been here with Hatake, or even Sasuke. They were the only men she knew here in Konoha. Besides, she felt that she was looking too pretty to be here with a loser like Rock Lee. Hinata had picked out her outfit and done her makeup and hair. She wore a very light pink dress that only reached her upper thigh, and white strappy high heels. Her hair was down and fell around her shoulders gracefully. Hinata had put a tiny bit of glitter on her face, arms, and hair, and Sakura glistened under the twinkle lights. Rock Lee didn't seem to notice that she looked any different. "Sakura, let's dance!" Rock Lee jumped up, and knocked over a potted plant. He didn't notice.

"Um…" At the back of the room was a low stage, and there stood Shikamaru and his band, and Sasuke! "…Fine." She conceded, and stood up, brushing off her dress. Rock Lee grabbed her hand and unceremoniously dragged her out onto the dance floor.

--;

Just as they did, "I Saw Her Standing There" by the Beatles came on, and Sakura smiled widely. Old as it was, she loved the song very much.

"SEE Sakura, I KNEW you'd like dancing!" Rock Lee cried, and Sakura whacked him over the head.

"I like this song, you idiot!" She yelled over the guitar and drums. Rock Lee wrapped his arms around her waist and tried to slow dance. "It's a FAST song!" She hit him again, and pushed him away, and started dancing solo. Rock Lee scratched his head, confused.

O.O

Her eye twitched. Sasuke was just so good at playing guitar! He sang along in the chorus, but not enthusiastically, unlike the rest of the band. While all of the other guys were making a big show of everything, and going crazy and moving around all over the stage, Sasuke simply stood there and played, focusing on the music and not the crowd or anything else. Sakura felt her heart melt. He was just so… so… cool!!! She blushed, and walked over to him, placing her hands on the floor of the stage and looking up at him. She caught his eye and he stared at her for a moment, before turning the other way.

_Not so cool, but maybe TOO cool. _Sakura thought, irritated. She turned around and bumped into Rock Lee.

"Oww!" She whined, and Rock Lee began to apologize profusely. She shook her head. "It's okay, let's just dance!"

Rock Lee was beginning to get the hang of dancing fast as they danced away from the stage. Sakura could feel Sasuke staring at her, she just KNEW he was, but every time she glanced over at him, he was looking down at his guitar or singing. _He is so annoying! And cool. And sexy-_

"Excuse me." Sakura jerked her head up to see Rock Lee being pushed out of the way as Hatake stood before her, still in the eye patch but in a navy blue button up shirt and black jeans. She stopped dancing, as "Honky Tonk Women" came on, and a blush crept up her cheeks. He waved simply, and smiled to reveal two rows of very straight, white teeth.

"Y-your mouth! I can see your mouth!" She squeaked, and Hatake laughed, filling Sakura with a strange feeling.

"See? It's just a normal face. What, did you think I had fangs or something?"

"N-no… I just… Ahhh, whatever." She stammered, staring hard at her feet.

"Well, in that case, will you still dance with me?" He grinned. Sakura's eyes bugged out. What the… wasn't this kind of thing illegal?

She couldn't resist his smile, though.

"S-sure…" _Yeesh I'm beginning to sound like Hinata! _

Hatake was an excellent dancer, or at least better than Rock Lee. Sakura soon forgot about the fact that Hatake was a teacher and she a student, and abandoned all embarrassment.

"You look very pretty!" She heard him say and she blushed heavily.

"You look handsome!" She replied, and he smiled, his dark eye twinkling. Sakura felt goosebumps prickling her arms and legs. Then she smirked, dancing a little closer and in a slightly more suggestive manner. She looked over at Sasuke and saw him standing on stage, staring at her with his black eyes very wide and round. She suppressed a giggle and looked back at Hatake, who just seemed very happy. She smirked even wider, and once again danced even closer, and suddenly she was able to feel his breath on her face. It smelled like mint tea. She felt like she was drowning in his good looks, scent, and smile. What could possibly be so wrong about her dating him? He was so young anyway! In her peripheral vision she could see Sasuke trying his best to look away from her, and she smiled. _What a perfect night! _

"Sakura-chan! Dance with me!" A fan boy cried, and Sakura froze.

"No, Sakura, dance with ME!"

"_I _was the one who brought her here, you dolts!"

"Well she obviously doesn't wanna dance with you anyway!"

"Come on," She whispered to Hatake, and tugged on his shirt sleeve, motioning for him to come back to her table, but he didn't budge.

"No way," He said in a low voice, and darted out of the bistro, leaving Sakura standing like the first flower that comes up in springtime. Very odd, tall, and very alone.

Sasuke hung dejectedly in the back with his guitar as the crowd clapped. Now, they were to play slower songs so that it would be nicer to eat dinner. He checked to make sure the guitar was in tune for the fifteenth time, though since two seconds ago it had remained in tune. He sighed, and leaned against the wall while the rest of the band took a break. He wanted to go back to his apartment; at least he could be alone with these weird feelings that way. Why the heck did HE care if that annoying girl Sakura danced with Kakashi? They'd just get in trouble, Kakashi'd go to jail, Sakura's reputation would be ruined, and that would be the end of it. Why did he care? Things like this happened all the time. And Sakura was so stupid! He watched her stand on the dance floor alone, and he watched Kakashi leave, that same dirty rat look about him that he had had when he had left that other girl a year ago. _They're both so stupid. Everyone in here is so stupid. _No one seemed to care that Hatake and Sakura had danced together… well, the fan boys were annoyed that Sakura wasn't dancing with them, but aside from that, no one seemed to care! Sasuke found himself staring at Sakura again, and realized he was blushing. _She's stupid and annoying! _He told himself, but somehow he didn't care. He slumped against the wall. _Why the hell did I have to go kiss her? _She was consenting to dance with Rock Lee for the next dance, and jealousy boiled up inside of Sasuke. _What the hell is wrong with me? _

"Hey," came a soft voice and Sasuke bolted upright. Sakura stood shyly in front of him, smiling a smile that did not reach her eyes.

"That's what happens when you dance with someone you shouldn't be dancing with," He said coldly. Sakura nodded, looking down, her hair hiding her face. Sasuke swallowed, wishing desperately that she wouldn't cry. Not now, not in front of him. He didn't know how to handle crying girls. He heard a sniffle, and he rolled his eyes. "Hold on, wait here." He darted over to where one of the band members stood, signing autographs.

"Hey! Hey, you! Tell Shikamaru I'm just going to be outside for a second!" The guy nodded, and Sasuke ran back to Sakura, and pulled her outside through the kitchen door, to a back alley, where they stood under the flickering light of a bulb in need of changing.

"…It's not like you guys were going out, anyway." Sasuke finally said, after a few minutes of Sakura sniffling and avoided his eyes. Sakura hiccoughed and sniffled, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"S-so? –sniff- He j-just left me there with all those annoying fan boys! –sniff- A true gentleman would have s-stayed w-w-with me. –sniff-"

"Why do you even care? He's a stupid coward. He's not worth it." Sasuke snapped. Sakura shrugged.

"What was the deal with the old student, anyway? And how'd you know?"

There was silence in the alley, although Sakura could faintly hear the loud arguing of the fan boys.

"I-" Sasuke started, but was interrupted by the opening of the back door. Shikamaru popped out.

"We're on, man. As in, now." He said, and Sasuke followed Shikamaru inside, without even looking at Sakura.

She stood in the alleyway, once again feeling very alone. She didn't want to go back inside, but it was getting very chilly out here…

"Sakura!" Hissed a voice. Sakura turned around, looking for the owner of the voice.

"Huh? Who's there-"

Hatake sat on a motorcycle just outside of the alleyway, grinning.

"Need a ride?"

Well that's it for Chapter seven of Just What I Needed. Coming up in Chapter Eight of Just What I Needed:  Rock Lee is laying eggs, Sakura's goldfish are mutating, and Sasuke's hungry. Can it get any worse? You tell me. Kakashi needs a haircut, and coincidentally, Shikamaru is the one to cut it….


	8. Grounded! But Not Really

Just What I Needed

By Sakura Uchiha

Disclaimer: I STOLE Naruto! Mwhahahaha- no.

[A/N: Ah, here it is at last, the long-awaited chapter eight of "Just What I Needed!" Sorry about the delays, I have been mucho busy! Thank you SO MUCH for all of the reviews! Special thanks are at the end of the chapter…and enjoy Chapter Eight: Grounded! But Not Really!]

"Sakura!"

"Huh? Who's there-"

Hatake sat on a motorcycle just outside of the alleyway, grinning.

"Need a ride?"

"AAAHHH! WHERE'D SAKURA GO!?" Shrieked Rock Lee. His eyebrows were arched in agony as he tore around Salmon Ella, looking for his beloved. Fan boys all around were searching for her, but to no avail. Where was she?

Sasuke jammed power chord after power chord on his guitar mindlessly. Where the hell _did _Sakura go? Did she try to walk home by herself?! _She's just so damn stupid!!! _Sasuke swore to himself right before leaning into the microphone to sing the chorus. _The whole reason I'm stuck playing these stupid songs is her!_

__

"Um… no thank you.." Sakura stammered, blushing. Her mother would be horrified if she showed up at the door with some guy on a motorcycle… with an eyepatch, no less!

"Aww. That's too bad." Hatake said as he revved up the engine. _Well, if we're really careful… _

'Ahhh, I changed my mind!" She shouted. Hatake stopped and gestured to the seat behind him.

"Well, c'mon then!"

She trotted over in her heels and jumped on the bike. "Let's go!" He grinned, and suddenly there was a whooshing sound in Sakura's ears as the streets of Konoha city flew by in a blur. The engine roared and Sakura hung onto Hatake tightly, squeezing her eyes shut. Nausea crept up her stomach. She hated this!

They came to the coastal road where all was silent save for the roar of the waves, and Hatake stopped the bike. Sakura placed a hand over her mouth to keep from vomiting. The world spun.

"I… live just up this road and to the right… You know where the temple is, right?"

"Oh, you live in that neighborhood?"

"…My family takes care of the temple." Sakura admitted sheepishly. Hatake grinned.

"That just makes this easier." With a loud VROOM they were off again, speeding up the coastal road. The low brush, high chain link fence, and ocean became one dark smear under the sky, while the cliffs on the other side loomed ominously over the road. It made Sakura even dizzier, and she found herself praying that the ride would be over soon.

_Screeeeeeeeech! _And the motorcycle came to a halt in front of Sakura's house. Sakura fell off the bike and landed on the sidewalk, the world of picket fences and pretty white houses spinning like a tornado around her.

"Heh, I guess you aren't a biker chick!" Hatake chuckled, but remained on the bike, looking down at Sakura while she moaned for someone to stop the ride, she wanted to get off! Finally the world came to a stop, and Sakura realized that the hem of her dress had ridden up and her underwear was all too visible. She blushed and jumped up, yanking at her dress. Hatake chuckled again.

"Th-thank y-y-you!" She stuttered, staring at the ground. (Thankfully it was no longer spinning)

"Anytime." He rubbed at the back of his neck and smiled at Sakura, his visible eye twinkling even in the darkness. She blushed even darker, and looked up. They stayed there for a moment, looking into each other's eyes before Hatake muttered something inaudible and sped off into the night.

Sakura blearily opened one eye to the sunlight flooding her bedroom, filtering in through the lace curtains and onto her braided rug. _Ungh… I don't wanna get up… just sleep forever. _She buried her face in her pillow, but couldn't ignore the fact that she had pulled the shades down over her window the night before. She lifted her head up, staring at the wall –painted pale purple- in front of her, and narrowed her eyes.

"Gaara? What do you _want?" _She didn't even have to look to know he was in her room. _What a creep. Yeesh! _

"Where.were.you?" She rolled over and turned around. Sure enough, there was Gaara, seated in her swivel chair by her desk across the room, arms crossed, and his left ankle resting on his right knee. She gave him her "I'm Trying To Look As Scary As Sasuke Or Maybe The Terminator But It's Not Working" glare, but he practically spoon-fed it back to her.

"Don't you have anything else to worry about besides your little sister?" She whined, sitting up.

"I have a wife, an insane younger brother, two near senile parents, a house, a temple, and two kids to worry about. Besides nuclear warfare, and my own personal aquarium full of Pepto-Bismol saturated goldfish." He replied tersely. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"You have too much time. I was just out on a date, that's IT!"

Gaara glanced at his reflection in her floor length mirror, and ran a hand through his spiky red hair. "Try again."

"Okay, so I was on a date with a different guy than the one who brought me home, but he was doing me a MAJOR favor! Would you have wanted me to walk home alone-"

"Without a helmet? Straddling a bike in _that-_" He gestured towards her dress from the previous night which hung on her closet door "-and the guy was wearing an eye patch?! The only person who was doing anyone any favors was YOU!" He yelled. Sakura winced and sighed.

"Look, he's my advanced calc teacher, and the other date just _totally _ditched me!" She fidgeted with her nightshirt. _Well, actually it was the other way around, but no one needs to know that! _

"YOUR ADVANCED CALCULUS TEACHER!?!!!??"

And really, it only went downhill from there.

Sakura tapped her fingers along the spine of her novel. It was bright and sunny out, but she was stuck inside, grounded. _It wasn't my fault! _But who ever listened to that anymore? Stupid Gaara. He just HAD to go and tell Mom and Dad! She glared, and put down her book. She had been reading for three whole hours, and it was only noon!

She folded her arms across her chest, and her mind went back to last night. _What's wrong with me? I can't even have a normal date! _

It was more of a date with Hatake than with Rock Lee, wasn't it? She groaned at the thought of Rock Lee asking her out again, because really, she did owe him a date. She had kind of just left him there…

_I need to get out. I need to talk to Sasuke and ask him about Hatake. I NEED TO!! _She jumped up, and checked herself in the mirror. Old sweatpants and a discolored tank top… _This is horrible! Wait a second… this _is _just Sasuke… I CAN'T GO LIKE THIS THOUGH!!!_

"Hm…" She grabbed a pair of straight leg jeans and a pale pink t-shirt and her favorite pink chucks, and yanked everything on as fast as she could.

She threw open her window and looked around to find an oddly convenient- yet climbable! – tree right next to her. _Woo hoo, my ticket to Sasuke is right here! _

Jumping from window to tree was harder than she had originally speculated, though.

"Owwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!" She moaned as she landed on the ground. _SAKURA HARUNO WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?! THAT WAS SO STUPID!!!_

She examined the point of impact, which was her hip. Nothing visible really, only it was kinda pink from the fall. She stood up… "What a miracle!" She whispered, rubbing her wound. "Owww…. Still hurts though!" She limped down the street, and reached the corner when she stopped and realized two things:

She didn't know where Sasuke lived. What if Gaara or her parents came into her room and saw she wasn't there? 

"Ah… to hell with it. I'll just be in bigger trouble." She said to herself, leaning against a newspaper stand. But what to do about Sasuke? _Hm… I know! I'll call Hinata and have her look him up in the directory! _

She clumsily dialed Hinata's number (she new it from texting her in History of Konoha all those times) and smiled at her own brilliance. Perfect-o!

"H-hello, Hinata s-speaking!"

"Hinata! It's Sakura. I need you to do me yet another HUGE favor."

"Okay, s-sure… what is it?"

"Look up Sasuke's address for me. I'd do it myself but… ahhh it doesn't matter. Anyway, can you do it?"

"Way ahead of y-you! 403 East Ito Drive, flat number 7 on the 6th floor."

"Whoa, I know where that is! That's…" She looked up at the street sign. Her street was Akiko Ave., and it was perpendicular to Ito Drive.

"R-right along the coastal road, right?"

"Yeah… Well, thank you Hinata! I promise I'll call you later and tell you EVERYTHING about my date and leading up to now, but right now I have some business to take care of."

"O-okay, I'll talk to you later."

click

"Hm… " Sakura walked along Ito Drive, looking carefully at the address plates of each building. Her street was very suburban, but as she walked along this street it looked more and more urban and more and more expensive, until the address plates went from little signs to large, very sophisticated brass plates and the buildings became much taller and the tiny walkways to buildings were replaced by awning, carpeting, and doormen complete with uniforms standing outside. Sakura gulped. Was this really where Sasuke lived? In a fancy apartment-

She came to a very crummy looking alleyway, with a door on the side leading into a very ugly brown building. She looked at the very nice, expensive building next to it, and then the park on the other side.

"Hm… well, I guess this is it!" She opened the door to a drab lobby with a girl who couldn't have been much older than Sakura seated at the front desk. _Why would such an ugly, crappy building even bother with a front desk?_

"Hi… um, does Sasuke Uchiha live here?" She asked timidly. The girl glanced up at her, and blew a bubble with her gum.

"I dunno. I'm just here because this building is connected to the other one, you know, the art gallery? Apartment residents all are up those stairs. Be careful, they're pretty old and are going to be torn down soon." She snapped her gum and looked back at the glossy pages of her magazine. Sakura sighed, and turned to face the stairs that apparently led to Sasuke.

_Here I go… _She walked purposefully up the stairs and tried to remember what Hinata had said. _Flat seven on the sixth floor… or was it flat six on the seventh floor? Ahhh I don't know. I'll just try both. _

Well, there it was. She stood in front of the doorway, tapping her shoe against the floor. She inhaled, and reached out a hand to knock on the door, when she was stopped by a, "Hey, Sakura! What are you doing here?"

O.O

"H-Hatake!?" She stammered. It certainly was him, but… "Why do you have a mullet?" She blurted out, and clapped a hand over her mouth and blushed. Hatake chuckled.

"I needed a haircut, so I went to that place over on route 6, but how was I supposed to know that Shikamaru worked there?"

Sakura burst into laughter; she couldn't help it. The thought of Shikamaru cutting hair was just too weird. "So… what are you doing here?" He asked again. Sakura blushed.

"I needed to ask Sasuke about something…" She said slowly, looking at his door. Hatake nodded.

"Well, he works weekends so he won't be home until much later…" He gestured to the door across the hallway of Sasuke's. "That's my apartment, so I know." He laughed. Sakura blushed, and smiled. _Funny… they seem to be a lot more connected than I thought before. _"Would you like to come in for some tea or something?"

Sakura thought of Sasuke and Gaara and Hinata and the homework she had to do and being grounded, but all of these thoughts were pushed away when she said firmly,

"I would love to."

_I'm really hungry. _Sasuke tapped his fingers along the edge of the counter as he stared out the window of the store. _And I miss summer. _

Ah, summer, the best time of the year. He never had to worry about paying the rent because he had more time to work, which equaled more money, and he had more free time.

Sasuke faintly recalled a time a few years back when he and Hatake had gone surfing as a jeep with surfboards in the back flew by the window. _The good old days. Before he got weird… _

No one ever really came into the shop. It was a music store. Instrument rentals and sales, and a lot of sheet music. Most of it was classical unfortunately, but some of it was more recent rock.

He glared as his eyes fell upon a book of famous oldies, some of which he had played last night at the bistro. _Dammit, Sakura! Why did you have to go off with Hatake like that?! _

_I would have taken you home. _

The bell attached to the door of the store signaled the entrance of a customer, and Sasuke sat up, and glared when he saw who it was.

"Can I help you?" Sasuke said through clenched teeth. Rock Lee grinned that stupid, annoying grin that made his eyebrows join together and become one curved line, almost reaching his smile and making his face look like one big circle.

"Well, actually…" He puffed up his chest. "I wrote a song for Sakura!"

…

Sasuke's left eye twitched, but he said nothing.

"And… I just need an instrument to play it on. I was thinking I could sing it without any backup, and maybe add a few notes with my kazoo-" He pulled out a kazoo and feebly blew on it. "-But Naruto disagrees and right now he is across the street at that cd exchange that Shikamaru works at. He is going to buy the Titanic soundtrack! He will sing along to it during announcements on Monday morning. Ha! What an idiot. He doesn't even know that I already reserved all the extra time so that _I _could serenade the fair Sakura!" Rock Lee once again grinned, and once again, Sasuke's eye twitched.

"…Why don't you just tell her?" _And spare us all from your singing/kazoo playing. _

"Well I don't think that's enough, so I was thinking that I could also have an Arabian bagpipe in the background-" He stopped when the accordion caught his eye. "What IS this!?" He picked it up and was about to slam the two ends together when Sasuke grabbed it from him and stuffed it behind the desk.

"You know what, I recommend you try singing mute." Sasuke said quickly, praying that the idiot would go for it.

"Mute? How do you mean?"

"Eh, well, it's very simple. No instruments, no nothing. You just move your mouth. No sound. Sakura really likes that kind of singing. She has an entire cd full of mute songs that she's constantly listening to!" _Please fall for it, please fall for it, PLEASE FALL FOR IT! _

Rock Lee grinned even more than before, then faltered. He snapped his fingers. "Aw gee, I was gonna try out my yodeling skills, too… Does she really like that mute stuff, or whatever?"

O.O

"She LOVES it now why don't you go home and practice before Naruto can beat you to it?!"

"You're right Sasuke, thank you so much!"

And then he was gone. Sasuke sighed, and slumped down on the counter, staring at the setting sun. Somehow he had the feeling that this was not the end of Rock Lee's-

Eggs?

…Why was there a trail of eggs where Rock Lee had been…?

Okay folks, that's all for the eighth chapter of Just What I Needed, stick around for chapter nine: Sakura and Hatake are found in a compromising position… could this be the end of Hatake's career and Sakura's life? And what about Sasuke?


	9. Mute Singing, Compromising Positions, an...

Just What I Needed

By Sakura Uchiha

Rating: PG13

[A/N: Okay guys, this is going to be a long author's note, so if you don't need anything clarified (I hope to cover as much as possible) then please skip over to the beginning of the chapter. deep breath First of all, I would like to say that I try as hard as I can to make sure that Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, Ino, Hatake, and all of the other characters, cannot be specifically labeled as "prep" or "punk" or whatever. That is why I had Sasuke play guitar, Sakura wear chucks, Shikamaru really look up to Sasuke, and I guess Hatake really doesn't fit into any label anyway, and also Ino and Shikamaru being a POTENTIAL item. (You know, the whole opposites attract deal) I believe that when writing, one should try to make the characters appeal to as many people as possible, in that they do not really wear anything specific, or listen to any specific music, or anything like that. Of course, everyone must fill a role in a high school fanfiction, so they end up fitting into certain stereotypes. I say all of this because I have noticed that, more and more, people are writing fanfiction that can only appeal to, say, Goths, or maybe people who listen to pop. If anyone feels that I am pushing a character into a stereotype too much, please tell me! Next off, I do not watch Naruto. I only have read the graphic novels, so I do not know how the names are handled in the anime series. I have a pretty extensive knowledge of customs in Japan, and I think I am correct in thinking that Sakura's first name is Sakura, and that her surname is Haruno. The name is said, "Haruno Sakura" because it is tradition in Japan to say the first name last, and the family name first. Next, I know Shikamaru's job situation was unclear in the previous chapter, but this chapter explains it. Also, the story isn't even a third of the way done. So if you think I am going to suddenly pop up with a bunch of new couples, you are wrong. Life doesn't work that way. I do not know what the final couples will be, but I do know that not everyone will have a significant other, and I also know that there will continue to be love triangles. And finally, this story is a romantic comedy, so there are bound to be weird things happening. If you found Sasuke and Sakura's kiss to be random, or the sudden Hatake/Sakura relationship, deal with it!!!! .

Kakashi: You really need to calm down. This is a romantic comedy! Not to mention a high school fanfiction...

Naruto: YEAH! No one takes those seriously.

Ah, sorry everyone for that rant. I just am so annoyed with all of these stupid questions! SO WHAT IF I NEVER MENTION WHAT BANDS SHIKAMARU LIKES! SO WHAT IF I NEVER SAID WHETHER SASUKE WAS WEARING GAP OR AMERICAN EAGLE OUTFITTERS!! DOES IT REALLY MATTER??!?!?!

The answer is no, it doesn't. I'm leaving it to your own whacked out imaginations. Put a Pennywise shirt on Shikamaru for all I care! X.X

Shikamaru: I think she's dead...

Sakura: Great, now we can start the chapter. FINALLY!

Chapter Nine: Mute Singing, Compromising Positions, and Anal Retentiveness

And then he was gone. Sasuke sighed, and slumped down on the counter, staring at the setting sun. Somehow he had the feeling that this was not the end of Rock Lee's-

Eggs?

...Why was there a trail of eggs where Rock Lee had been...?

Shikamaru stuffed his hands into the back pockets of his old, ripped black jeans as he left work that evening, scanning the signs above store windows for some place where he could get some decent ramen. He'd been craving it all day.

He walked briskly along the sidewalk, but stopped when he saw, to his surprise, Sasuke, entering a small ramen bar. He chuckled. "He's got the right idea!" and followed him inside.

The room was dimly lit, but it was packed with people. "Hey, Uchiha!" He called across the room to Sasuke, who was seated at a stool at the bar. Sasuke looked up, blinked, and nodded his head.

Shikamaru sat down next to him. "Great minds think alike!" He said, trying to be cheerful. But the sullen look on Sasuke's face was making it very difficult. "Why you so pissed?"

Sasuke shrugged, and rested his chin on his hand, eyeing Naruto across the room, who was pigging out. Eggs... he just didn't get it!

"So... didja see Kakashi's new look? Hahaha, did it myself! Filling in for Hyuuga, you know, and BAM! I just couldn't help it. The guy is such a jerkoff, ya know? What a pain in the ass! Jeez!"

"...What, did you give him a Mohawk or something? That would be something you'd do."

"Close. A Mullet! It didn't really turn out like one, though. His hair just won't like, hang! It sticks out all over the place! The only thing I succeeded in doing was making his bangs shorter." He shrugged. "Still kinda funny though. Wait till all his fan girls see 'im Monday! Whoosh that'll be great!"

"...Whoosh?"

"Hah, sorry, can't help it. Habit. Habits are such a pain in the ass, you know?"

"You have no idea." Sasuke replied, as images of Sakura swam in front of his vision. He shook his head, and straightened in his seat. A few minutes of silence between the two passed, as Sasuke ordered a simple bowl of ramen.

"Uh... I've been wondering..."

"Hm?" Sasuke wasn't really paying attention as he watched the door open, and—

_What the HELL are they doing here?!?!_

"Well, y'know, your guitar playing last night was pretty cool, and I was thinking, you know, maybe you could show me some of your, uh, wait what's that word... Heheh it's one of them fancy ones... technique! That's it. Yeah, technique! Technique... what a pain in the ass to remember."

Sasuke barely heard Shikamaru as he watched the couple in question sit down at a booth across from each other. _They are TACTLESS. Completely TACTLESS. _

"...Sure." Sasuke said absently, as he watched the guy tuck his heel behind the girl's ankle under the table... _It makes me sick how stupid they are. Naruto has the biggest mouth in Konoha, not to mention the fact that he's the leader of Sakura's fan club... if he finds out about those two, it's curtains for them! _

"Whoa, really? Great, I'll just come by your place tonight! That's gonna rock. Should I stop by my place and get my guitar? Nah, I'll just watch you."

"Whatever. I'll be right back. Wait here." Sasuke said quickly, as he jumped off his stool and jogged over to the booth.

"giggle But omigosh, like, I didn't know what to say when he did! Sasuke is soo- Sasuke!" Sakura squealed, her vivid green eyes widening at the sight of him standing at their booth, looking perfect as ever in his dark blue jeans, black golf shirt with a white t shirt underneath, and thin black hooded rain jacket. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks. Hatake frowned.

"Are you two _blind?!" _He hissed. Sakura swallowed nervously and looked down at her hands.

"I-I-..." She stammered, but Hatake interrupted.

"Whatever do you mean, Uchiha? I am aiding Miss Haruno-"Sasuke snickered, "-in her calculus homework. Good thing she called her parents though. She came by your place around noon, but we ran into each other, and since you weren't home, we figured we'd use the time-"

"Yeah whatever. Just know that a lot of Sakura's fan club is here, namely Naruto, and just know that you guys even _look _illegal, okay?" He turned on the heel of his sneaker and ran back to his place at the bar. Shikamaru was only staring.

"...Why are Kakashi and that Sakura girl here together...?" He asked slowly. Sasuke looked over his shoulder at the couple, and glared. He looked back, and shrugged with a smirk on his face.

"What do you think?" He asked sarcastically, and sat down. Shikamaru's eyes widened.

"-The hell is up with him?!? She's a student!" He hissed. Sasuke shrugged again and began eating his ramen-

"Hey look! It's Sasuke bastard and that freak Shikamaru!" Sasuke didn't even need to look up to know who it was. He rolled his eyes, and continued eating. Shikamaru glared.

"That Naruto guy is such a pain in the ass. He sucks totally. One of these days..." Shikamaru flexed his arms and cracked his knuckles. Sasuke rubbed the back of his neck.

"Don't even bother. The runt isn't worth your time." He said, and went back to eating. Shikamaru nodded.

"Dude, you're right all the way, but like, I can't help it."

Naruto stood before Sasuke in the same ugly orange jacket, with the usual jeans that were too short for him, and sneakers with orange socks. Sasuke got off the stool, and folded his arms, standing in front of him. Naruto was the buffer looking one of the two, with broader shoulders, and a thick neck, but Sasuke could outdo anyone in height any day. Naruto craned his neck to see Sasuke looking down his nose at him.

"What do you want, dobe?" He deadpanned, checking his watch. Naruto smirked.

"Hahaha, Sasuke bastard, you think you're so cool!" He punched his fist in the air. "Just because Sakura hangs out with you more doesn't mean she likes you better than me! _I _gave her a goldfish! And besides, on Monday, during announcements, I will sing, "My Heart Will Go On" to her and she will be falling all over herself to go out with me! HA!"

_Ever since she came along, we never hang out anymore, Naruto. What's up with that? _Sasuke shrugged.

"...Rock Lee has all of the extra announcement time reserved on Monday."

O.O

"H-how would YOU know, Sasuke bastard!?!?"

"He told me. He came to me today asking about what he should sing."

"W-what!?! AGHHHHHHHHHH NO!!" Naruto shrieked, and dashed out of the ramen bar. Sasuke snickered, and resumed eating his ramen, with Shikamaru staring.

"This sucks." He said finally, and also ordered a bowl of ramen. "So what will ol' Eyebrows be singing?"

"...Nothing. Thanks to me, he thinks mute is a way of singing. All we'll hear tomorrow morning is Neji yelling at Lee for being such a dumbass." Sasuke snickered. Shikamaru's eye twitched.

"So... wait I don't get it. How can you sing mute?"

"Moving your lips. I told him that Sakura really likes that kind of music."

"AHAHAHA!!! HE IS SO STUPID!" Shikamaru laughed, banging his fist on the table and attracting everyone's attention. Sakura and Hatake stared at Shikamaru, who was at this point rolling around on the floor laughing, and then at Sasuke.

--;

Sasuke got up and left the ramen bar after paying for his meal. He hurried down the sidewalks.

_Why do I care so much? This is just Sakura, some weird new girl. I don't like her. She's stupid and annoying and tactless and idiotic and boy crazy and impulsive and weak and pathetic and clumsy and innocent and emotional and... _ He slowed to a stop and looked up at the dark blue sky, full of twinkling stars.

_Not like any other girl I've ever met in my entire life. _He sighed, and resumed walking, only a bit slower this time. _This past week has been insane... I don't have any feelings for her at all, but I can't help but want to save her! She's so weak and fragile... she needs to be protected anyway, right? _

"Sasuke!!!" He turned around, and there was Sakura, running over to him, looking like the stupid, annoying girl that she was. _She's not even that pretty. Her fore head _IS _really wide, and her eyes are squinty, and her hair is weird and too short, and her skin is blotchy, and she's short. So why is it that when she smiles I have to be stupid and weak like her and blush? AND WHY DID I HAVE TO GO KISS HER?!! GAHHH!!!! _He simply nodded his head. She smiled, and of course Sasuke felt his ears go red. _Thank Kami she can't see my ears..._

"Oh my gosh, Sasuke, I can't believe you saw us!! Oh well, anyway, he really was helping me with calculus, and we talked for a long time about you! I can't believe you are the heir to a huge fortune, that's awesome! And do you really have a brother in a top secret organization?!??"

"...How should I know? It's top secret anyway." He said quietly. Sakura smiled. _Please don't look at my ears... _

"Oh, right, well, okay. Um... anyways, I wanted to ask you about Hatake, but he already told me everything! I just can't believe he and Ino of all people actually went out! And at a NINJA academy too. Are you a ninja? Ninja are so cool, I wish I were a ninja!"

"I am a full fledged Shinobi."

"WHOA! THAT'S AWESOME!!!" She yelled, jumping up and down. _She's really uncoordinated and can't jump high at all, too. _"So... well, Hatake and I are... you know..." She reddened, and Sasuke motioned for her to stop.

"Going out?"

"Y-yeah..."

"You are so stupid... you'll get caught. You know that, right?"

"But... you won't tell anyone, will you...?"

"No. I have better things to do than worry about your stupid half baked relationships." He said coldly, and stalked off, leaving a very hurt and confused Sakura.

"Good morning, everyone. I hope your weekend went well. Today is Monday, September 14th. The time is 8:00 am and it is 63 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Your daily forecast is as follows: breezy and clear. Boys' varsity soccer is meeting today on the... erm... baseball field... I don't know why... oh, and that's after school. To see if you made the team, check out the list on the bulletin board just outside Principal Tsunade's office! Oh and... um.. right! Girls' cross country is meeting... on the boys' soccer field... um... I don't know why you aren't just meeting at the track... "

"Get on with it!"

"Oh, uh, sorry Neji! Uh... anyways, I think that's all for sports-"

"You missed girls' soccer, boys' cross country, girls' field hockey, boys' tennis, girls' tennis, co ed swimming, football, and ping pong you dolt!"

"Who cares about ping pong, it's not even a real sport! Don't be so anal retentive about this!"

"Don't you tell me to not be anal retentive! I'll be anal retentive if I want to be!"

"Okay, sure whatever you anal retentive creepy ninja hippie!"

"I AM NOT AN ANAL RETENTIVE CREEPY NINJA HIPPIE!"

"...Yes you are."

"BOW DOWN TO ME, THE GREAT HYUUGA NEJI, FOR I CAN KICK YOU OFF THE ANNOUNCEMENTS CREW ANYTIME I WANT TO! I AM YOUR **SUPERIOR!" **

"Boy do YOU have a superiority complex! Anyways, kick me off the crew if you wanna, I don't care! My mom just wants me to do this. I'd rather spend time with Zabuza during homeroom anyway!"

"Excuse me, Haku, Neji, could you two please wrap it up? A student has reserved some time this morning and you two are being a pain anyway."

"Oh, yes, sorry Principal Tsunade. Anyway... you can all ask me during the day about sports because SOMEONE is being a little anal retentive right now. Um... today for lunch it's corndogs and baked beans... and for you weirdo vegetarians out there, we have a nice bowl of old, yucky iceberg lettuce for you to crunch on while you do whatever else you vegetarians do!"

"HAKU!!!"

"Uh, right, sorry... that concludes today's edition of the morning announcements. And now, a presentation by Rock Lee, dedicated to Sakura Haruno.... Ooooh I know her she's that hot new girl- Uh, sorry Principal. Make this quick Rock Lee."

"You can't tell me what to do, Haku!"

"Yes I can."

"Whatever! Just cut your hair! This one's for you, Sakura my darling!"

silence

"Um... Are you okay, Rock Lee? You look like a fish."

"I DO NOT LOOK LIKE A FISH! I'M SINGING MUTE HERE!"

"...Mute?"

"YES SASUKE UCHIHA TOLD ME SHE REALLY LIKES MUTE MUSIC WHEN I ASKED HIM WHAT I SHOULD SING, THANK YOU VERY MUCH."

"To Sasuke Uchiha, you are a brilliant, savior to us all. But you're also a cruel bastard for doing that to an innocent idiot like Rock Lee..."

"HAKU!!!"

"Sorry, Principal. Um- HEY PUT THAT BANJO DOWN!!!!"

"SHE'LL BE COMIN' ROUND THE MOUNTAIN-"

fzzt

"I apologize, everyone. Please finish up homeroom and continue on to your next classes. We will have announcements later in the day when Haku feels he can concentrate, and-"

"AND NEJI FEELS LIKE TAKING A FREAKING LAXATIVE FOR HIS ANAL RETENTIVE-NESS!!"

"Haku you have just earned yourself three weeks' worth of detention."

"What!?! This is SO not fair! I have a CAREER, you know!"

"Right. In _modeling. _A boy model. Ha. That's precious. Now if you would just get to homeroom...!"

"SHE'LL BE COMIN' AROUND THE MOUNTAIN WHEN SHE COMESSSSSSSSS! SHE'LL BE COMIN' AROUND THE MOUNTAIN WHEN SHE COMESSSSS!!" SHE'LL BE COMIN' AROUND THE MOUNTAIN SHE'LL BE COMIN AROUND THE MOUNTAIN SHE'LL BE COMIN AROUND THE MOUNTAIN WHEN SHE COMESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Did I ever tell you that I hate folk music?"

"I'm not surprised, Neji. You're so anal retentive about everything, what's one more thing to hate?"

"HAKU!!!"

fzzt!

Everyone slowly turned around in their seats to look at Sasuke, then Sakura.

O.O

"You like... mute singing?"

"N-n-o! I like indie rock a-and stuff like that!" Sakura stammered. Shikamaru's eyes bugged out.

"You like indie rock!?!?! So you ARE cool after all!!!" He cried, dancing around the room.

Murmurs of "what the hell is indie rock?" and "that's just like Shikamaru" were heard, before the intercom went "whoop!" and Naruto's loud, annoying voice was heard.

"Now _I _have something I would like to sing for Sakura!"

"NOOO!!!!"

"Go away and practice your acupuncture or something, Haku. LOVE IS IN THE AIR!!"

"MY HEART WILL GO OOOOOOOOOOOONNN AND OOOOOOOON!!!"

=.=

The intercom shut off, and Hatake stood at his desk, his eye twitching.

"That was... _educational. _Now, I will take attendance, and everyone will get on with their day... like normal people, and not these idiots that clog up the announcements every morning." He smiled at Sakura, and picked up his attendance book, and homeroom began, with a very frazzled Sakura, and an extremely pissed off Sasuke.

Sakura sat, hunched over and kind of cold, on the shiny metal bleachers that afternoon, as she watched Hatake coach the varsity boys' soccer team. He looked so cute in a red Konoha High t shirt and black athletic shorts, with a whistle around his neck. She blushed, and rubbed her upper arms for warmth. She smiled even more when she saw him pull aside a student, and talk to him very sternly, making a lot of motions with his hands... "Sasuke!" She breathed. Sasuke also looked very good in the required clothing for boys on the soccer team during practice. A white t shirt with dark blue short sleeves, and dark blue shorts. She frowned when she remembered what he had said the night before.

"_No. I have better things to do than worry about your stupid half baked relationships." _

She shook it away and went back to watching them talk. Even across the field, she could still feel the tension between the two of them. _I should talk to him... maybe he was just in a weird mood yesterday. But, who cares, Hatake and I can be together now! _She giggled and watched as Hatake shoved- no, guided- Sasuke back onto the field. Sakura somehow knew that Sasuke was swearing.

She checked her watch... she couldn't stay any longer. She had been in HUGE trouble for going out without telling anyone, while she was grounded too... though less since it had been 'school related...' She smiled at the warm fuzzy feeling she was getting, and, feeling very flustered, stood up quickly and hopped off the bleachers, skipping all the way home.


	10. Trouble on the Horizon

[A/N: I apologize, everyone, for my stupid-assed rant in the previous chapter. It was dumb of me to edit the chapter/finish the author's note when I was in a bad mood. Once again, I apologize. Also, I am placing a request for a beta reader. Here is my email: cherryblossomuchiha yahoo . com (remove the spaces and that's my email… it's also in my profile.)

Btw: Wow people, can you believe it? Ten chapters!!! Thank you for reading… but I'm not done yet!

Naruto: That's right, you still haven't gotten Sakura and I together!!!

Rock Lee: O.O SAKURA IS MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!

Neji: Haha. That's great. BUT SAKURA IS MINE!

Kakashi: It's funny, I'm the only one who actually _doesn't _like her, but I get stuck with the brat!

Sakura: WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?!?!??

Um, right. While they duke it out, we'll just continue!

Chapter Ten: Trouble on the Horizon

The next day, Sakura sailed along the hallways in pure marital (well not quite, but at this point she was sure she would marry Hatake) bliss. Nothing could faze her, she was just that happy! _Hatake and me, Hatake and I, me 'n Hatake, Sakura Kakashi! _She squealed, earning many looks from the girls in her homeroom. She smiled widely. Today was perfect! The sky would have been blue had it not been cloudy that day, the grass wasn't green because of the summer draught but it was coming onto a nice fecal brown, which was DEFINITELY a step up from the charred look it had taken on in the past few weeks, and, okay, the birds _weren't _singing, but who cares! It was a BEAUTIFUL day, absolutely nothing would ruin her day-

"ROCK LEE!!!! GAAAHH!!! GET OFFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!" All eyes reverted to the screaming pink haired girl, and the strange looking boy bearing the thick eyebrows who had lodged himself in between the girl and her desk.

"Sakura my sweet! How I have pined to see your shining forehead- AHHHHHH!!!"

Sakura harrumphed with satisfaction at the sight of Rock Lee smashed up against the wall, and retracted her fist, her weapon of choice. Ino's eye twitched.

"…What the heck was he doing in here in the first place? It's not even his homeroom!"

Rock Lee slithered to the ground, not unlike a wet paper towel. He crawled under the desks and along the aisles, and out the door. Sakura sank into her seat, blushing at the loud silence in the room. Ino spoke again.

"Um, has anyone else noticed that there are only girls in the room?"

It was true. Rock lee had been the only male in the room. Sakura checked her pink watch with cherry blossom petals for clock hands and cherry blossoms at twelve, three, six, and nine. It read 7:59.

"Homeroom will be starting in forty five seconds… so we're not all early." She said. Ino nodded, and stood up. She walked to the door, and scoped the hallways from the doorway.

"Even if it is your fan club, Sakura, wouldn't Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Kakashi Sensei still be here?" One girl with short curly brown hair adorned with bows and barrettes piped up. Ino shook her head.

"Kakashi Sensei's always late, how many times has Shikamaru showed up at school? And as for Sasuke…" She sighed. "He could be hiding from me, or something." She said sadly. For a moment (only for a moment, though) Sakura felt sorry for the blonde fan girl. Maybe, if Sasuke just gave her a chance… maybe they really would work out? It was definitely a possibility. Sasuke…

Sakura was reminded of the fact that he was a full fledged Shinobi. Maybe he was out on a mission? She was vaguely reminded of a cartoon from when she was little about a suave male assassin who was much like James Bond, shinobi style. She giggled at the thought of Sasuke in a stylish car with a pretty blonde in pearls and sunglasses. As if! Sasuke had no time for women.

Poor Ino, her relationship with Hatake had crashed and burned at the ninja academy, and now she was failing at even talking to Sasuke. On top of that, she and Hatake had to face each other, every day, in homeroom! It was kind of romantic, in a way…

[inner sakura] BUT HATAKE IS MINE! HELL YAH!!!!

"HelllllllllooooooooooOOOOOOOooo, Konoha to Sakura!" Ino was flapping her hand in front of Sakura's face. "You COMPLETELY spaced out there."

"O-oh, er, sorry!" She stammered, flustered. Ino rolled her bright blue eyes, and sauntered away, to the front of the classroom. Sakura glared at her back, how her blazer was perfectly thrown over her shoulder, how her skirt was too short but she got away with it anyway… it just made Sakura so mad! She was the opposite. Her blazer was buttoned up completely, her skirt reached her knee cap, and even if she had worn her skirt shorter, she would never have gotten away with it. She sank in her seat, scowling at stupid Ino.

"So, _I _think that we should notify-"

"Gooooooooooooooood MORNING Konoha, today is Tuesday, September 15th. The time is 8:01 am, we're running just a TAD late today, but that's A-OKAY! The temperature is 59 degrees Fahrenheit today, a little cooler than yesterday, but still pretty darn warm if ya ask me- ZABUZA, I MISSED YOU!"

…

"Wh-what do you mean, over? W-w-we c-can't break up, we're [sniff] the only gay couple in Konoha high! What was that? WHAT!?!?! I AM NOT TOO DEPRAVED!!!! … Hm? Oh, right, sorry, Principal, I JUST KIND OF BROKE UP WITH MY LONG TIME BOYFRIEND HERE! MY SOULMATE, MY LOVER, MY- Okay… sorry.

"Anyway [sniff] your daily [sniff sniff] forecast is as [sniff sniff sniiiiiiiiiiiiiffff] follows! It's gonna raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnn. JUST LIKE MY MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD! What was that, Neji? Get over it? WHAT?!?! HOW CAN I GET OVER THIS!? I **_LOVED _**ZABUZA!!"

A series of loud crashes and bangs were heard, before Neji's smooth deep voice echoed throughout the school.

"Hello, students, Haku will no longer be the announcer for obvious reasons. If anyone would like to apply for the job, please see me during the day about an application and an audition, or contact principal Tsunade. Moving on, the male population is absent from the school today. I don't know why they all are missing, but it is just as well, as I have this poem I have authored for Sakura Uchiha. I hope you are listening."

My love for you grows day by day 

_Like your pale, shiny forehead _

_Your hair is like the most luxurious pink rat's nest _

_And your eyes look like miniscule squinty emeralds_

_You trip as gracefully as a swan_

_And you kick THAT EVIL HELL CREATURE INO IN THE HEAD _

_Your shoes squeak very melodically _

_How I love thee, fair Sakura, lover of mute music _

_Your voice is like a thousand squawking seagulls _

_Fighting over an old, moldy, crusty French fry. _

Hysterical laughter was now heard.

"SHADDUP HAKUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!"

More loud crashes and bangs.

"There will be no interscholastic athletic games today, as always on Tuesdays. Today the lunch line up is as follows: Pizza. Vegetarian menu is tofu chicken and rice balls. That concludes the morning announcements."

Sakura wanted to die. Did NEJI, someone she had merely SEEN once, write THAT about her!?!? _Gosh. The first thing he said was that my forehead was growing day by day! _

Her gaze landed on the Rock Lee shaped hole in the wall and it made everything ten times worse, just seeing it there. _Oh, where ARE you, Hatake? _

None of the boys ever showed up, so the girls just headed for their next classes. Sakura's next class was history of Konoha. She smiled weakly. Well, that was one good thing, she would get to see the only Hyuuga that she actually liked!

The hall was empty, and she could hear her shoes clicking against the floor. She quickened her pace… she was usually the last girl to arrive at class and then the boys would arrive, chasing after her, but today there would be no boys. That would make her last to class… She started running, her shoes slipping and sliding now. Why did she always have to be late for every class? She emitted a sound of frustration, and was about to go faster, when she tripped.

"GAHHH!!!" She landed a few feet away, right on her backside. She moaned in pain, and turned around to see what she had tripped on.

O.O

One of the linoleum tiles had been lifted. Peeking out from the space were a pair of black eyes, adorned by thick eyebrows, another pair of baby blue eyes, and a pair of creepy silvery ones. They looked angry. Voices were heard.

"Rock lee, move OVER! Sakura needs me right now in her time of pain!" Naruto hissed. Rock Lee glared, but disappeared from sight as Neji's eyes moved over.

"Hmph. This is much better." He said in that deep voice that, just a little while ago, had read to her that atrocious poem. Sakura pushed away from the square, grating her heels against the floor. The tile lifted some more, and Naruto's goofy blonde hair popped out of the square. He scouted the area, eyes narrowed, until he saw Sakura, on her hands and knees, desperately scrambling away. He grinned.

"Hiya, Sakura!"

"You FOOL! You gave us away!"

Sakura froze when, after hearing Neji squawk at Naruto, Sasuke's voice floated into the hallway.

"I think she already knew you guys were there… you aren't allowed in here, you're going to get suspended if Tsunade finds you."

"WHAAAAAAAAAT!?!? What are you doing here, Sasuke!? You're SUPPOSED to still be tied up to that tree!"

Sakura's eyes bugged out. So THAT was where Sasuke was! Her lips curved into a smile. _They were trying to prevent him from saving me from them! Haha, silly Naruto! Sasuke is invincible! He's a NINJA!_ She almost laughed, but then remembered how late she was for class.

"Uh oh," she muttered, scrambling to her feet, and brushing off her uniform. She started to run again, her heart pounding in her chest. So that counted for a few of the boys… but what about the rest of them???

She sped down the hallway, slipping and sliding she was going so fast! She rounded a corner, then- BAM

"Oww… Not again…" She whined, holding a hand to her head. She started to get up, then was stopped by a hand in front of her face. She looked up into Hatake's grinning face.

"Not a moment too soon, I see!" He said. She took his hand and stood up completely, feeling slightly dizzy. "That was the fastest I've ever seen a student run to History!" He joked. Sakura blushed, looking away from his cute tousled silver hair and mischievous grin. He was so perfect!

"None of the boys are here!" She said, remembering the incident merely seconds before.

"I know… they tied up Sasuke to a tree so he wouldn't be able to save you, and then they started arguing about who you liked better…" He sweatdropped. Sakura's eyes bugged out for the second time in the past five minutes. "…Oh, and in the meantime they tied up Shikamaru to the tree too, because he and Sasuke were walking together and it was convenient…"

"What'd they do to you?"

"Oh, nothing, I just slept late."

Finally, Sakura had made it to History of Konoha, twenty three minutes late… She blushed hotly at her encounter with Hatake, and sank in her seat, overcome with that warm, fuzzy feeling.

What's with you? You are late, and you're blushing like mad! 

Sakura smiled at the note that Hinata had sent, and scrawled back a reply.

_O nothin. Ran in2 sum roadblocks but other than that i just got here late. _

_Ooooh. Oh, I am so sorry about Neji this morning! If I had had any idea that he was going to do that, I would have stopped him! _

_It's fine. I can't believe Haku got fired! Already i was used 2 his voice on the loudspeaker!_

_Yes, I know! I wish I were more of a speaker, then I would try for the job!_

_Im gonna. _

_What!?_

_i think i want 2 get 2 kno Neji better and this seems like a good way 2 do it _

_Well… I guess it's a good idea! Oh my gosh, fan boys would be coming in right and left! _

_Lol yeah. Maybe. Kakashi sensei told me that even tho Haku is fired, he still will b hosting the auditions. _

_Uh oh, you had better watch out, Sakura. I hear that Haku can have very weird mood swings, and now that Zabuza has dumped him… He'll practically be bi polar! _

_i kno. _

"Good morning Kono-"

"Not cheerful enough!" Came the muffled reply. Sakura scowled, and glanced back at Haku, who was leaning back in his chair, pigging out on white rice in a white take out container.

"GOOD MORNING-"

"Still not-"

Neji entered the room.

"Oh, hi Mr. I'm On Prozac! Haruno here is just auditioning for the new job as announce-"

"I know." Neji deadpanned. He turned to Sakura.

O.O What was with those eyes? She was trembling, sweat dripping down her temples as she stared at those eyes… Piercing through her very soul-

"Hello?? Sakura??? Konohagakure to Sakura!" She turned to Haku, who was waving chopsticks in her face.

"S-sorry." _Not again! I keep spacing out today! _

"I said, I thought you were fine the first time." Neji turned on his heel and left the announcement room, his long hair waving behind him. Haku rolled his eyes, and wiped some rice from his mouth.

"Hmm… it seems that Mr. I'm On Prozac has left the room…" Haku's eyes narrowed in concentration. Sakura sweatdropped.

"Um, duh, Haku?"

"Oh, right, sorry! I just have these moments…" He trailed off, his eyes going misty. Sakura quirked an eyebrow.

"Sakura… is there anyone special in your life?"

"…You asked me that five minutes ago. My answer is still the same: My boyfriend." She said flatly. She was losing patience with Haku and his "moments." In which he would suddenly go very serious and muse philosophically on "special" people… Namely Zabuza.

"Oh…" Haku said airily, pulling out a picture of Zabuza. He had a bandaged face from god-knows-what and no eyebrows. Sakura rubbed her oversized forehead in frustration.

"Sakura, do you have anyone special… someone you'd like to protect?"

"Yes… my boyfriend!!!"

"Who… is… this, boyfriend, as you call it?"

"Eh… someone secret."

"Secret?"

"Secret."

"Why is it a secret, hmm? Is this an… _illegal _romance, by any chance?"

"Uh, um, ummm…. No, it isn't! Just, uh, well, not for the general public to hear!"

"We're all alone in here… you can tell me…"

"No, I can't."

"Why?"

"Because it's a secret!!!"

"Secret?"

"Secret."

"Why is it a-"

"SHADDUP!" She screeched, kicking Haku in the face, sending him backwards.

"GAAHHH!!!" He cried, white rice and chopsticks flying everywhere, and most importantly, directly onto the face of-

"PRINCIPAL TSUNADE!!!" Haku yelled. Tsunade glared. Haku weakly jabbed a pale manicured finger at Sakura. "SH-she KICKED me!! In the FACE!"

Tsunade and Sakura both sweatdropped.

"Big deal. You needed it." She replied. "Anyways, I would just like to tell you that your audition has been aired on the intercoms all throughout the school…"

O.O

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT!?!!" Sakura shot up. Tsunade sighed.

"Haku must have turned on the entire system."

Oh no… now everyone's going to know I have a boyfriend! And then… 

Sakura promptly fainted.


	11. These Different Feelings

Just What I Needed

By Sakura Uchiha

Chapter Eleven: These Different Feelings…

"Er… Sakura? Helloooooooooooooooooooooooo, Sakura!"

Sakura's eyes opened slowly to see Haku's confused face right in front of hers.

"GYAHHH!!! HAKU!!! DON'T DO THAT!" She screeched, jumping up and leaping across the room, essentially away from Haku. He shrugged. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat_ever!" _He said indifferently, and sauntered out of the room, pretending to be somewhat offended. Sakura had a random moment of classical anime sweat dropping, but then stopped when she realized how oddly cliché that was, and returned to fretting about the whole school knowing that she had a boyfriend.

She slumped over into a folding chair by the closet and stared at her black school shoes with pink laces (her own touch). She could just picture Sasuke's face right about now. It would have that unmistakable look of "I told you so" – ness to it. Or it would be uncaring. She sighed and closed her eyes, and for just a moment remembered her "Date" with Hatake. It brought a smile to her face, thinking of how they had just totally clicked immediately. _He's so perfect. _Well, not really. But his faults were outnumbered by his good qualities. Suddenly she jerked herself out of her daydreams and shot up, eyes wide open.

"WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO DO!?"

Several miles away, some old guy is selling noodles…

Wait no… sorry, wrong story. Uh, anyways, just one room over, Haku is plotting…

"So… the infamous Sakura Haruno has a boyfriend, eh? So… she has someone special… I have someone… special… he is very special… to me…" At that, he dozed off, and hit the desk in front of him.

Sasuke fell out of the closet behind Haku, crashing onto the floor, eyes wide open. Boyfriend…BOYfriend… BOYFRIEND??!!?!? YOU CALL A TEACHER A BOYFRIEND?! He stood up, furious, and brushed himself off, appearing totally and completely indifferent to the fact that he had just exploded out of a closet, muttering to himself. He frowned at a weird feeling that suddenly washed over him… and ignored it, walking briskly out of the room, forcing himself to think about the homework that he had to do.

Why do I keep feeling like a character from a chick flick? Sakura's not like some hot movie star who's amazing at everything… come to think of it, she can't do anything right. She just hit Ino by accident! What is this? AGHH!!! Okay, Sasuke, get a grip. This weird feeling can be explained in a fully logical way.

SASUKE'S LOGICAL DIAGRAM OF DEDUCTIVE REASONING

Sasuke meets weird girl named Sakura Must protect weird girl from rabid fanboys Weird girl isn't cute at all Weird and un-cute girl falls in love with teacher teacher falls in love with weird un-cute STUDENT who HAPPENS to be female Teacher is the only fanboy that Sasuke can't protect weird un-cute girl from Sasuke has feelings for weird un-cute girl.

Sasuke blinked. Well, it sounds logical… but when you look at all the details… like, for instance, why would you ever fall in love with a girl that you fell out of a tree with, and then landed on top of? Why would you ever fall in love with a girl that didn't love you back? Why would you ever love said girl enough that you'd get jealous of the guy she dated? WHY!?!?

He looked up and realized that he had made his way over to Sakura's house in his flurry of thought. He could see the pink walls and boy band posters in her room from the window. Second floor, to the left, with a trellis under it and a huge oak tree next to it. He sighed. _I've got it bad. _But why? Why would you fall in love with a girl who had BOYBAND posters in her room? He shook his head, and ran his hand over the white picket fence that sat neatly in front of her tidy looking garden. How is all of this possible?

"Uh… excuse me… why are you doing that?" Sasuke froze and looked up to see a man of about 30 with a shock of red hair on top of his head and piercing jade eyes. Oh. Right. Gaara, Sakura's overprotective brother.

"Sorry, I was just thinking. But, I came here because I was wondering if Sakura was home." Sasuke congratulated himself on his quick thinking. Gaara rolled his eyes.

"Not another fan. Jeez, what the heck's so special about my sister? No, she's not home, she's auditioning for something or other. Bye, have a nice life!" Gaara walked back inside and slammed the door. Sasuke stared at the ground. That's right. Just. Another. Fan.

He bolted back home, forcing himself to not think about Sakura.

knock-knock

creak

"Hello?" Sasuke's deep voice floated out the door. Sakura looked up.

"Hey, Sasuke! I'm _really _sorry to bother you this late, but see, I was going over to Hatake's house, and, um…"

"He's not there."

"Er, yes, well, see-"

"And you were wondering if you could hang out in my apartment until he came back?"

"Precisely! Sasuke, you always know exactly-"

"Just get inside."

slam

Sakura swallowed, and looked around the room. To her right was the kitchen, which was basically comprised of a counter and cabinets running along that wall, with a small sink and a _very _small refrigerator. The stove was next to the sink.

Across the room from the kitchen were a sagging loveseat and a rigid looking chair next to it. A tiny black and white TV sat on a cardboard box across from the couch.

The windows were bare and the pallid light from the street lamps filtered in and lit up the door at the back of the room; most likely the bedroom.

"It's… er, cute." She said at last. It was not cute. It was miserable looking. Sakura could not understand how anyone could live like this! She went over to the kitchen area and ran a finger along the refrigerator. Dust. She made a face, and opened the refrigerator door.

"GYAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!"

"…What's wrong?"

"Th-th-there's no FOOD in this refrigerator!!" She cried, slamming the door shut in shame.

"Oh, yeah. I haven't exactly had time to go shopping for food." Sasuke said quite nonchalantly, looking back at the TV. Sakura's eyes glided over his skinny, pale arms. Muscular as they were, he was obviously not eating enough. She sighed.

"This weekend, I'm dragging you to the store. You NEED food!" She inspected the cabinets, and finally found what she was looking for. She quickly washed the tea kettle off, and then filled it up with water. She turned on the stove, and placed the kettle over the burner. She smiled with satisfaction.

"You MUST have tea somewhere.." She murmured, once again checking each cabinet. She came upon a small red basket filled with different kinds of tea. Within seconds, the apartment was filled with the smell of tea leaves, and there was a pot of tea heating up. Sasuke looked away from the TV.

"…What are you doing?"

"Making tea, what does it look like!?"

"It smells funny."

"Ugh…" Sakura rolled her eyes, but walked away from the kitchen area and into the living room area. "This rug needs to be vacuumed." She speculated, looking at the ugly gray carpet, covered in dust.

"Whatever. I'm not much of a housekeeper."

The tea was ready. Sakura poured the hot liquid into two mugs and handed one to Sasuke. He simply looked at it. "…I never said you could make tea."

"Well, I did it anyway. Now, drink it! You need to eat and drink more. You look like a corpse." She snapped. She sat down next to him on the ugly loveseat, and felt it sag even more under the extra weight. She glared at Sasuke. "Ever heard of REAL furniture?"

Sasuke bristled. "If you wanted to come here just to criticize my home, you can leave!"

Sakura sighed. "I'm just trying to help. Look, this is no way to live, Sasuke! I'm your friend and I'm going to help you. This weekend, we're going shopping for food and real furniture, and we're going to clean the entire apartment!"

Sasuke groaned. "Greeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaat. Just great. I get to do GIRLY things this weekend!"

"They're not GIRLY, they're HUMANLY. You need food and a clean house for healthy living."

"…Only a girl would ever say that."

"Ugh, whatever. We're still going to do it this weekend."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

They both looked back at the TV, which suddenly switched off.

"DAMMIT!"

Okay, people. I know it took WAY too long for me to update. I also know that this chapter was horrible. But please, bear with me! I promise the next chapter will be a MAJOR plot changing point.


	12. It's Official

Just What I Needed

By Sakura Uchiha

A/N: Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! It's really inspiring to know that people do actually think that this is funny! Much love,

Sakura 3

Chapter Twelve: It's Official

"…Only a girl would ever say that."

"Ugh, whatever. We're still going to do it this weekend."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

They both looked back at the TV, which suddenly switched off.

"DAMMIT!"

end of recap

It was totally dark all of a sudden, and shouts similar to Sasuke's could be heard from other tenants.

"Looks like a power outage…" Sakura said, noting the pouring rain and thunder outside.

"No shit Sherlock." Sasuke retorted sarcastically, fumbling around for his watch. Suddenly, an eerie green glow was cast upon Sasuke's face, coming from his watch.

"Oh great genius, now we know the time." Sakura snapped, still hurt from Sasuke's previous comment. She stared at his dark eyes, which even in the green light, looked… red? She shook her head, and looked again. "Um… Sasuke… your eyes-"

"I think the matches and candles are over here." With the certainty of one walking around with the lights on, Sasuke stood up and walked over to the kitchenette and opened a drawer. There was a flicking sound heard, and then a soft, warm yellow glow filled the room. Sakura looked at Sasuke's eyes again. They were black. _Weird… _She shrugged it off, and stood up as Sasuke set down the candle on the counter.

"It's thundering and pouring outside… how am I going to get home? I'd just ask Hatake to drive me, but as he still isn't home yet…" She looked over at Sasuke, trying her best to look as cute as possible-

"NO! YOU'RE NOT STAYING WITH ME! YOU'LL TRY TO DO MY LAUNDRY OR SOMETHING GIRLY!!!" Sasuke screeched, grabbing Sakura and hauling her over to the door. She dug her heels into the floor, ripping the cheap carpet. Sasuke slipped, and then smacked into the counter. The room was pitch black again, and only the sound of the storm outside could be heard.

"Great, just great. You rip my carpet, threaten to stay over my home at night, and then out goes the candle, which was lit by my LAST MATCH-" He froze, when he heard sniffling. He felt around in the dark until he could feel Sakura's shoulder. He touched something wet. As his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could see the dark wet shape on her shoulder. "…That's blood, isn't it. Shit, okay, just stay there while I clean it up."

"Oww!!!! It really hurts!!! DO something, Sasuke!" Sakura whined. Sasuke knelt down, placing his hands on her shoulders to brace her. He took a deep breath. 'I am really acting out of character here… Calm down, Sasuke!' He looked at her face, which in the flash of lightning, was revealed to be glistening with tears. She slowly brought her hand up to the side of her head, where blood was dripping down onto her shoulder. Sasuke swallowed.

"Okay, take a deep breath, and lean in so I can see." He pulled her head close to his chest, and in the occasional flash of lightning, he examined her wound. It was not very deep… but there was also a bruise next to the cut. She must have hit her head on the corner of the counter. "Stay still… I'm going to try and find a flashlight so I can take a better look at this." He stood up, but then stopped at the sound of Sakura's voice.

"What about your eyes? You can see in the dark when they glow red!" Sasuke froze.

"…What the hell?"

"I saw them before!"

"Okay Sakura, you must have hit your head harder than I thought… stay there on the floor, I'll be right back with a-"

"See you're nervous now, you know what I'm talking about-"

"Of course I'm nervous, you're talking about me having natural infrared vision, you head case!" He shook his head, and continued to feel around in the dark, trying to find his way back to his room, where he knew he had a flashlight up in the closet…

How'd she know about the Sharingan, anyway?

Two hours, six rolls of paper towels, and seventeen bandages later, Sasuke and Sakura sat curled up on the couch, sitting in the dark, listening to the rain. "Your parents must be freaking out right now." Sasuke said quietly, looking down at Sakura, who was snuggled up against him. It was freezing and dark in the apartment, and even though Sasuke had given Sakura a blanket, it was still so cold that the blanket made little difference, if any at all.

"No… Gaara's the one that's probably freaking out right now. Oh well, he deserves it. He grounded me for nothing!" She snapped. She leaned her head against Sasuke's shoulder. "…by the way… you have really bony shoulders. See, this is just more proof that you're not eating enough-"

"SHUT UP, WOMAN!" He cried, jabbing his elbow into her side. She squealed, and laughed. Sasuke was so funny when he was annoyed.

"I wonder where Kakashi is."

"Okay, it's 1:43 am, and you're still wondering? Give it up. He's probably gone to a bar and can't get out because of the rain. Maybe a tree fell on his bike or something."

"But, he KNEW I was coming!"

"Well a Monday night is a dumb night for a "Date" anyways!"

"Why?!"

"Because it just is! It's not romantic at all."

"I never thought you'd ever say "romantic."

"See it's your fault. Next thing you know I'll be doing my laundry and picking out curtains… and buying food." He looked down at her. She giggled and pressed her face into his arm.

"You know, Sasuke… it's so nice having a guy for a friend that I can be totally open with. Like, any other guy, even Kakashi, I'd be so nervous about being here. Thank you, Sasuke, for being my friend."

Sasuke remained completely still. His heart felt like it was shattering into billions of tiny pieces, and piercing through his flesh and landing all over the floor for Sakura to see and stomp on and break all over again. Friend? FRIEND?!

He coughed. "Uh, right… Sakura you know I'm not good with these touchy-feely moments."

"That's why I said it!"

Sasuke sweatdropped, and looked away. "There has to be a way for you to get home."

Sakura frowned. "I guess you don't want me here, do you?"

"No. You'll be grounded for the rest of your life if you stay here all night, plus you haven't done your homework yet, and on top of that, you don't have any clean clothing here!"

"Good point."

"There must be some sort of way.."

"Well hey, you're a ninja right? You must have some sort of training that can be applied to our situation…"

"What if, now bear with me here, it's a tough concept to grasp, but just _hypothetically speaking, _what if I didn't _feel _like going out in the rain and jumping from tree to tree with you in tow, meanwhile getting soaked, along with the danger of getting struck by lightning!?!?" Sasuke inquired sarcastically. Sakura just stared.

"But… can't you like, teleport or something?" She frowned, utterly confused. Sasuke sweat dropped.

"Sakura… I'm a human. Not some weird anime character!" A/N: I couldn't resist… Sasuke screeched. Sakura shrugged.

"Well, in any case… what are we going to do? The phone lines are down, you can't drive, it's pouring outside, and it's thundering… We're totally screwed." She concluded. She sighed. "And Gaara's probably freaking out right about now."

"Not to mention that you can't stay here. I'm going to go see if Kakashi's home. You wait here."

He stood and slowly walked out of the apartment. The door clicked shut, and Sakura was left alone in the silence.

She stared at the threadbare, torn carpet, and felt a sickening hole in her stomach widen. There was only one word to describe this apartment: Bleak. No wonder Sasuke seemed so unhappy. No one could be happy living in an apartment like this. Not by themselves, anyway. What had happened to Sasuke that he would allow himself to live like this? Why would he become a ninja? How were he and Kakashi so connected? How could Kakashi have dated Ino, and gotten away with it? Her head was swimming with questions. All of these people were connected somehow. Sakura curled up and lay down on the couch, feeling it sag under the movement. Everything was so confusing. It was like being in a fanfiction, or something! Nothing made any sense; no one could just live a normal, average life.

She stared at the ceiling, listening for a sign of Kakashi. The door clicked open, and Sasuke entered, alone.

"We're in luck."

She shot up. "Is he home!?!?"

"No, but the streets are flooding. We won't have school anyway. Oh, and I just remembered something. Don't you have a cell phone?"

"…I left it at home."

"That's what I thought. Well, Gaara will probably be terrified for you now, seeing as everything's flooding. I guess there's no way you can get home now. You can sleep here."

"THANK YOU SASUKE!" Sakura cried, jumping up and hugging him. He pushed her off. "You know where my room is. You can sleep in there. I'll sleep on the couch."

"No, you don't have to do that. I am already inconveniencing you by sleeping at your home-"

"I don't mind…" He cut her off, grabbing some blankets from the linen closet. Sakura just stared.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I don't mind you staying here."

"That... is…. Wow. Really sweet of you." She whispered, staring at the ground, feeling her cheeks grow warm. Sasuke walked past her, and threw the blankets down on the couch.

"Go to sleep. I'm betting you'll need it for when you confront Gaara." She nodded, and walked over to his room.

"Good night, Sasuke." She said quietly. Sasuke looked at his watch.

"Good _morning, _Sakura." She laughed at this, and walked into his room, and fell on his bed into a deep, dreamless sleep.

"Sakura. Wake up. It's late. You need to get up." Sasuke gently shook Sakura's sleeping form. She frowned, yawned, and opened her eyes to see Sasuke's face in front of her. Her eyes widened… and then she remembered last night.

She's not very cute when she wakes up in the morning. Her breath smells, her makeup's all smeared, and her hair looks like hell.

"…What time is it?" She finally asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Ten thirty am. School's canceled until the flood's over. The phone lines are back up. I recommend you call Gaara."

"Right… yeah, okay, I'll do that…" She slipped off the bed, and followed Sasuke to his phone. She sleepily dialed her home phone number, yawning and hoping that she didn't look too bad.

"Hello, Gaara? It's Sakura."

"SAKURA!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!? ARE YOU OKAY? I WAS SO WORRIED! YOU ARE SO COMPLETELY GROUNDED, YOUNG LADY!"

"…I was at a friend's house, and then I was stuck there. I tried to call you but the phone lines were down, and I left my cell phone at home."

"What friend? Where do they live? Did you sleep? Why are you calling so late?"

"My friend Sasuke. Sasuke lives really close to home. I almost walked home but I was afraid I'd get hurt. I slept a lot, and that's why I'm calling so late."

"Who the hell is Sasuke? Have you eaten? When are you coming home? I'll pick you up. What's their address? Why were you at their house in the first place? Is Sasuke a boy or a girl?"

"Sasuke is my good friend. I haven't eaten. I'm coming home whenever you pick me up. His address is 403 east Ito drive, flat seven on the sixth floor. I was at his house to study for a calculus test. Sasuke is a boy. And no, he did not make any passes at me."

"I cannot believe you had me worried like that! And I can't believe you're at a boy's house! Boys are bad. They will rape you. Were his parents home?"

"Sasuke wouldn't hurt me, Gaara! He doesn't have parents, but our calculus teacher lives across the hall, incidentally. And no, he does not have a car, so he could not have driven me home."

"I'm coming there right now. You are literally grounded for the rest of your life! You didn't even tell me that you were going over there after school! School is canceled, by the way. Of course, you probably already knew that."

"Yes, I did. Fine. I'll see you then."

Sakura hung up slowly, and turned to Sasuke. "He's coming over here. Thanks for letting me stay." She hugged him tightly. "I probably look horrible." She said sheepishly, letting go. Sasuke smirked.

"You really do."

"Oh, gee, thanks. I really feel good about myself now. Thanks a lot." She said sarcastically. Sasuke fought back a laugh at her as she turned on her heel, stuck her nose in the air, and folded her arms across her chest. Sasuke reached out, and brushed a bit of lint off her shoulder.

"You should go freshen up before your brother gets here. With the way you look, he might get the wrong idea…" Sasuke said, turning to the kitchenette to make some tea for when Gaara arrived.

Sakura nodded and headed to the bathroom. Once there, she quickly ran her fingers through her shoulder length hair and straightened out her uniform. "As usual… as good as it's going to get." She sighed, and came out of the bathro-

"THERE YOU ARE, YOUNG LADY!"

Sakura backed into the wall when she looked up and saw Gaara, his face as red as his hair with anger, his green eyes burning brightly. She gulped. "Uh… sorry…"

Gaara returned to normal facial hue and folded his arms across his chest. "We're going, now." He turned to Sasuke, who was holding a teacup in his hand, scowling. Sakura giggled when she noticed the tea splashed all over Sasuke's dark blue shirt and his soaked hair. "Sorry about that. But you have to understand… I don't know what you did last night! Really, kids these days… so-"

"Just. Get. Out." Sasuke deadpanned, opening the door. Gaara glared, but stormed out, with Sakura following him close at the heels.

It's okay, Sakura. You can do this. You just have to read off the sheet, and you'll be fine. Deep breath. 1, 2, 3, BREATHE DAMMIT!!!!

Sakura stared at the white sheet that held the day's announcements and practically hyperventilated. She couldn't do this. She definitely could not do this.

"It's time," Neji whispered. Sakura tapped the mic and swallowed, straightening the paper in her hands. _Just think about the way Haku sounded… no don't, you'll laugh!_ Too late, she was already giggling hysterically at the thought of Neji and Haku's battles.

"Uh. G-g-good morning, Konoha! giggle I, uh, well… here are the announcements! Riiight… Uh, well, today… is very wet… and… it's not really that warm outside-"

"Numbers, Sakura… NUMBERS!"

"Oh. Yeah. Well it's like… Sorry, I can't read the thermometer from here… damn what does that say… Oh! It's 3 degrees outside…. Neji why are you looking at me like that… Oh crap, it's like more than that… oh it's 60 degrees outside. So kind of warm but not really. And it's wet. I said that already… yeaah."

"Look at the sheet! It has everything outlined for you!"

"Right. Um. Okay, um… the ding dong team won't be… wait what's the ding dong- OH the PING PONG team. Right. I made a stupid. Sorry 'bout that. Anyways, the ping pong team doesn't have a match today due to the rain from yesterday. Um… crap I lost my place… oh yeah, all other athletic practices are still scheduled for the regular time. Um. Yeah. Lunch today is Ramen… that's it? Oh well. Yeah. Ramen for lunch. Um… Oh! This concludes this morning's announcements… I'm really sorry everybody, this is my first time doing this- Okay, I'll stop. Uh right. Bye!"

fzzt

Sakura stared in horror at the microphone. How could something so small and inconsequential make her feel so nervous?! She slumped over in her seat.

"It's official. My life is OVER."


	13. Too Confusing

A/N: Sorry guys, but my formatting is lost when I upload to So if that last chapter was confusing formatting wise, it's not my fault.

Just What I Needed- Chapter 13:

"It's official. My life is OVER."

Sakura stared bleakly out the window in History. Even Hinata's silly cartoons of Naruto beating himself over the head with a frying pan could not cheer her up. Things were looking pretty bad.

She rested her chin in her hand. Why was her life so bad? Well…

She was going out with a teacher, and said teacher had stood her up. She was grounded for who knows how long. She just seriously screwed up the daily announcements. 

She scribbled a note to Hinata (cell phone privileges were taken.)

_my life is ovr._

_What happened?_

_wll im grounded 4evr n i totlly f'd up th announcemnts._

_I hate to be mean, but… you did. It's okay, though. You should have heard Haku's first day. That was hilarious!_

_Sakura took note of how eloquent Hinata was on paper, yet she barely put three words together when speaking out loud._

_haha. ne ways, hw boring is this class_

_Very much so. I wish you weren't grounded, then we could get together this weekend! _

_:( me 2. im sad. o well. _

She watched her legs swing back and forth about the ground. She was sitting in a tree, eating her lunch miserably. Everything was going wrong. She took a bite of sushi and felt tears sliding down her cheeks. Why did everything have to be so confusing and difficult all of a sudden?

"Well, look who it is." She wiped her eyes and looked down below, expecting to see Naruto or Sasuke or someone. But instead…

"Hatake…" She said very quietly. He climbed up the tree with ease and sat down on a branch far away from her.

"This is really awkward for both of us." He laughed nervously. Sakura fought back a smile. She couldn't help it; he was just so cute sometimes! But then, she reminded herself of

"Well, I hope you know that I'm grounded for a very long time… I keep going out anyway each time I'm grounded and right now, it's honestly looking like I'll be grounded until March… each time has been because of you. Hatake… we can't do this."

He stared at her and she could see all of the emotions in his eyes and her chest tightened. She couldn't believe she had said that… it sounded so mature… Hatake coughed.

"…Maybe we could?"

"It didn't work with Ino." _What are you saying, Sakura! _She blushed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I really shouldn't have. I'm sorry, Hatake... I-"

"It's fine… I'll see you around then." He jumped out of the tree and walked back to the school without looking back.

Sakura immediately burst into tears.

"Good morning, Konoha High! Today is October first and your daily forecast is as follows: breezy and clear. The temperature is 55 degrees Fahrenheit. You might want to pull out your jackets today! There are no scheduled athletic events. The lunch menu is: Burritos, and for all you vegetarians out there, some yummy tofu chicken!"

She looked over at Neji, who simply nodded. She grinned, and turned back to the microphone.

"That concludes this morning's announcements! Have a great day!"

She switched off the microphone, and grabbed her backpack.

She left the room and strode down the halls, fighting the tears in her eyes. She just had to remind herself as much as possible that she didn't need a boyfriend, she didn't love Kakashi, and that he was merely a distraction. Now, she could focus on her academic life-

Or not.

Because really, how can one make this resolve when Ino and Sasuke are holding hands as they walk down the hall?


	14. Married?

A/N: OKAY! I FINALLY finished the chapter. Ahhh. Now onto writing chapter 15. Sigh

To my beloved beta, Hinata-Hime: thanks for being so patient with me! throws Hime-chan some cookies

Disclaimer: Kishimoto-sama owns Naruto, not I.

Chapter Fourteen: Married?

Sakura stared wide-eyed. How was this possible? Ino just wasn't Sasuke's type! She watched as they stopped in front of a classroom, and said their goodbyes, and Ino went inside the classroom. Sasuke continued on and stopped in front of Sakura.

"What's with you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Sakura shook her head, trying to rid herself of the image of them holding hands.

"Oh, uh, nothing. So, you're with Ino now?"

"Yes… why?"

"Oh! Nothing! Just surprising. But it's great! I'm so happy you finally decided to let yourself open up to someone! Welllllll now I have biology, so I'll see you… around. Bye!" She waved and sped off in the direction of biology. Sasuke stared after her, left eye twitching.

smack

"Ah! I'm so sorry Uchiha-San!" A very short, built on the slight side sophomore backed away from Sasuke, after having slammed into him. "I-I didn't mean to!"

Sasuke glared at him and the boy sped off too. Sasuke rolled his eyes and started towards his next class, fuming.

She wasn't jealous!…Well it doesn't matter. I don't like her anyway! She's so clumsy and can't do anything right! …Okay so she's smart. And kind. And friendly. And determined… Ahhh I should get to my next class. 

Ino watched Sasuke run, his long, muscular legs tensing with every step, the defined muscles twisting. His shiny, thick black hair was blown out of his face, a certain determination shown in his furrowed brow. He looked down, lifted his leg back… and POW! The soccer ball was sent flying across the field, past the goalie, and into the net. A perfect shot. Everyone clapped. Kakashi sensei was trying to look uncaring but failing miserably. Ino smiled and winked at Sasuke, who glanced over at her, those dark brown eyes, although at first sight appearing apathetic, were sparkling victoriously.

"And that's the game! Uchiha, as usual, you are amazing. Good work, everyone, go home and get some rest. Remember guys, we've got our big game on Friday against Mizunegakure High School, so be ready! Train at lower intensities more often! Eat HEALTHY!" Kakashi bellowed, his voice reaching all corners of the field. Sasuke nodded, and walked over to the bleachers, where his black gym bag was. Ino ran to catch up with him as he exited the field and headed off the school grounds.

"You were great. You know, before we were going out, I used to come watch all of your games, and stare at you. You always have been great. You never make any mistakes!" Ino gushed. Sasuke shrugged. A long, awkward silence followed as Sasuke walked briskly down the street, with Ino jogging lightly to keep up.

"So you won't be able to make it to Kaho's party on Friday then…" Ino started again at a conversation. Sasuke shook his head.

"Why don't you ever talk- WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!" Ino screeched, jabbing a finger at the object in question.

It is important to remember at this time that Naruto is never a good addition to any awkward situation. Then again, he's not really a good addition to _any _situation.

"Hiya, Ino-Pig and Sasuke!" Naruto greeted cheerily, bouncing over to them. He had been on good terms with Sasuke ever since Ino and Sasuke had started going out (Sasuke couldn't touch Naruto's precious Sakura-chan now.).

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Ino screeched again, hiding behind Sasuke for support.

"What's the matter, Ino-Pig? I mean, okay, so I'm wearing a bright pink and green plaid party dress with water boobs, but that's no reason to be _disdainful._ It's _art. _I'm in the drama showcase Friday, after the soccer game. Remember?" Naruto bounced around some more, adding messy red lipstick and drawing on pink circles on his cheeks. "Y'know, I think I look kinda like Chouji in this." He laughed in a high-pitched voice, twirling around. "Oh, and Neji had to dress up too! It's hilarious. His act is a Barbie. I'm serious, he's _actually _going to be a Barbie! I mean he's tall enough… well you'll see. Now, I must be off. Must practice and be diligent just like Jiraiya-Sensei said! THEN maybe Sakura-chan will love me!"

…

"Well, that was odd." Ino came out from behind Sasuke. "I am SO not going to that drama thing. It's going to be a freakshow."

"I am."

"WHAT? But what about the game-"

"It's AFTER the game. Weren't you listening?"

"Well, no, but… why can't you come to Kaho's party then?"

"Because I don't _want _to." Sasuke snapped. He walked at a faster pace.

"Where are we going?" Ino was panting to keep up.

"I don't know where you're going. I'm going back home to get changed for work."

"Awwww Sasuke! Why can't you walk me home?" She whined. They stopped at an intersection. They were about a block away from Sakura's house, Sasuke noticed. She was probably at home doing her homework, being scolded by Gaara and ignoring it sadly… Wishing she could see Kakashi. Hmph. Sasuke glared at the sidewalk.

"Walk yourself home. You're so dependent and needy." He retorted, sailing across the street, leaving Ino at the corner looking horrified.

"Dependent? NEEDY? SASUKE! I AM YOUR GIRLFRIEND! YOU HAVE TO WALK ME HO-" Her voice became muffled by the cars rushing by as the light changed to green. Sasuke was fully across the street and continuing on to his flat without so much as a glance back at the whimpering princess on the corner.

'Sakura wouldn't have asked to be walked home. She'd want me to just do it because I care. It wouldn't be a big thing.' Sasuke sighed and turned the key in its lock and the door creaked open. His apartment was neat and tidy as usual but something was different. The atmosphere had changed.

Sasuke cautiously walked into the apartment, looking around as he shut the door quietly and placed his gym bag on the dilapidated sofa-

"Uchiha! Bastard!"

Shikamaru's voice was muffled by the black gym bag that Sasuke had presently thrown onto his face.

"Nara? Why are you here?"

"Lots of things man." He drawled, removing the bag from his face and tossing it onto the floor. He sat up.

"First of all: Two weeks from now there's a school dance that we've been asked to play at. I know, I know, school gigs are _lame, _but we need a show badly. Are you playing?"

"I guess."

"Okay. Second of all: You're friends with Sakura…right?"

"…What do you want with her?"

Sakura stared at her reflection in the mirror. It was horrible. How could Gaara do something like this? She sniffled a little.

Her hair was short. Okay, so, it wasn't like, _boy _short. But she had been growing it out! And now it was short and stupid looking. She couldn't even pull it back into a ponytail.

She sniffled again, glaring at her reflection now. She just could not win. She was grounded, she had broken up with Hatake, Sasuke and Ino were going out, and now her hair was short! It made her huge forehead stand out even more, which was heartbreaking anyway. Gaara had decided that the reason she was getting so much attention from boys was because of her long hair.

She was so busy sniffling and whining and wallowing in self-pity that she didn't noticed her bedroom window creak open. She didn't notice the breeze now ruffling her school uniform skirt and curtains. She didn't even notice when the same force that had opened her window had also knocked over a vase.

"Shit."

This, she noticed.

"Who's there! I'LL KILL YOU! WHO ARE YOU?" Sakura screeched. She gripped her hairbrush and leaned into what she hoped was a fighting stance.

"Um.. Hey…" Neji mumbled, standing up from the floor. Sakura sighed and lowered her hairbrush, thanking the gods that Gaara wasn't home right now. Then he'd _really _kill her. And Neji.

"Neji? What are you doing here!" She finally asked. Neji brushed himself off, and then dug around in his pockets, presenting her with a crumpled piece of paper after a minute of looking around.

"I believe it conveys to you my feelings." He deadpanned. Sakura shrugged and opened the paper, smoothing it out and reading slowly.

_To my pink princess,_

_You are like my sun_

_Your shining forehead rises to greet me every morning_

She couldn't read anymore.

"Neji… this is…" She paused to search for a word that wouldn't hurt his feelings. "…original. Yes. That's it. Original."

"So you'll go out with me! Haku was right! That cross dressing freak was right! Obviously you and I are fated to be together, Sakura. It can be no other way. MARRY ME!" He launched himself at her.

"Gaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Neji! Get off of me! We're too _young _to get married!" Sakura snapped, pushing off Neji. He sighed.

"Well then at least go to the school dance with me in two weeks." He demanded, thrusting a bouquet of flowers that had appeared from nowhere into her face. Sakura sneezed.

"…Neji, I'd love to, but you see-"

"Good. I knew it was fate that brought us together, Sakura."

"No but there's just one tiny problem-"

"There are no problems! I will make you the happiest woman in all of Konoha! I promise!"

"But, Neji, I can't-"

"Let us never put limitations on our relationship! 'I can't' Shouldn't exist! I know this is the beginning of a wonderful marriage, starting with this dance!"

"NEJI! I AM NOT ALLOWED-"

"Who cares? Fate has brought us together! That is enough for me and should be enough for you. I'll go let my family know of our engagement." He turned and jumped out the window, landing neatly on the ground. Before long he was all the way up the street, and no longer visible.

Now what was she going to do?

"Oh my god, look at her hair…"

"Her forehead looks bigger than ever!"

"Maybe the boys will stop paying so much attention to her now."

"She looks like a boy herself."

Sakura glared at every girl that passed her by. She felt more like crying, but she couldn't do that. She had a radio show to get to.

She reached the room where Haku was eating instant beef flavored ramen from a cup—hadn't he been fired?—and Neji was smiling dreamily at her as he mopped up the room. Sakura sighed. It was an odd look for Neji, considering he usually wore a harsh glare, but Sakura decided to ignore it as she dropped into her seat.

"So guys, any special announcements today?"

"Yes, Mr. I-Used-to-Need-Prozac-But-Then-I-Learned-About-Sex here has a little announcement to make." Haku gestured towards Neji who was currently dancing to elevator music with the mop. Sakura sweatdropped.

"Um… okay." Sakura muttered. She was praying that it wasn't about the marriage. Because there would be no marriage, plus she really didn't need any more rumors about her circulating. She sighed yet again and grabbed the folder with the announcements in it, reviewing it over. Nothing special.

"Okay everyone, set up." Haku commanded. Sakura leaned towards the microphone, straightening her headband a bit.

"And we're on!"

"Good morning, Konoha High! Today is October second and your daily forecast is as follows: warm but overcast. The temperature is 60 degrees Fahrenheit. There is a HUGE varsity soccer game this Friday at 7:30 pm so be sure to attend because it's against Mizunekage High School! After the game there is a drama showcase. There are no scheduled athletic events. The lunch menu is: Burritos, and for all you vegetarians out there, some yummy tofu chicken! …And now for the special announcements! Over to you, Neji!" She said behind clenched teeth. Do it now? Yes! Now was the only chance-

"I LOVE YOU, SAKURA!"

"NARA YOU BASTARD!" Sakura's head snapped up to see Shikamaru clutching the microphone and Neji kicking him. Haku grinned and sat back, slurping his ramen noisily.

"I just love drama!" He giggled, winking at Sakura. She could feel the tears bubbling up again. Why couldn't anyone just leave her alone? Or help her out, for that matter?

"I'M GOING TO MARRY SAKURA AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT, YOU NIT-WIT!" Neji screeched, at this point attempting to wriggle out of Shikamaru's death grip.

"NO… pow YOU'RE… slap NOT!" Shikamaru grabbed Sakura by the wrist and dragged her out of the room, slamming the door on his way out.

They continued to run down hallways, ducking into corridors, until finally they had reached an empty classroom. Shikamaru locked the door and barricaded it with desks while Sakura tried to catch her breath.

"You owe me big time, Haruno." Shikamaru added the final desk to the pile. "I don't love you at all. In fact you're a big pain."

"Um… okay.. Well thank you very much for saving me, if there's anything I can do-"

"Of course there's something you can do! Why else would I help you? Out of the goodness of my own heart? Ha!"

"…Well what do you need me to do..?"

"Go out with me."

Well… chaotic chapter. Hee hee! Stay tuned for chapter 15, in which Gaara is found tied to a telephone pole, Shikamaru receives death threats, and much more confusion!


	15. Mission Pig

WHOA! CHAPTER FIFTEEN?!

Ha! And you all probably thought I was dead. Well, I'm not, and I still want to finish this story!

Chapter Fifteen: Mission Pig

"Now, when phase two of part one of mission Pig has been completed, Agent Fan will travel along Tomoyo boulevard until he reaches pink base. Agent fan will have to contend with The Red-Haired Monster. Agent Fan, when you meet up with T.R.H.M., do whatever you must to get him out of your way. Your objective in this phase is to obtain Agent Forehead. Agent Forehead, you must-"

"This is ridiculous." Sasuke cut in. "Just tell her the plan-"

"I AM telling her the plan, you troublesome puke brain!" Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "This mission requires cunning and STEALTH!" He smacked the chalkboard with a ruler. The diagram looked like mentally deficient scrambled eggs, and he had written in "code" handwriting, which neither Sasuke nor Sakura understood yet. Sasuke rolled his eyes and leaned back against the desk. He was missing his calculus class for this, and was not too thrilled about it. "I don't care if you're missing your advanced AP answer to life level five billion class, this is WAY more important." Shikamaru snapped, knowing Sasuke well enough to decode the different expressions Sasuke had for different levels and kinds of annoyed. "So, Agent Forehead, you must make yourself ready and really hot, so that it's easier for me, Agent Awesome, to have to be on a date with you. Agent Stupid, formerly known as Agent Fan, will pick you up at pink base. Meanwhile, the Pig will have arrived at red base-" Shikamaru pointed to what was probably the restaurant "-and she will be wondering where Agent Stupid is, when Agent Awesome will also enter the restaurant. Then, Agent Forehead will enter. Agent Forehead will be all happy and suggest that we all sit together for dinner. Agent Stupid will enter ten minutes late and be covered in mud and be smelly and have bad manners so that Agent Awesome looks even more awesome. And that, men, is Part One of Mission: Pig, phases one through three." Shikamaru crossed his arms triumphantly and nodded.

"Why don't you just _tell_ Ino you like her? And why is Sasuke okay with this?" Sakura waved her hands around, extremely confused. Sasuke shifted uncomfortably.

"Because a) that'd be troublesome and b) Sasuke's mission coincides with mine."

"Sasuke has a mission too? What the heck!?"

She looked pleadingly to Sasuke, who just looked away.

"UUURGGH!! I HATE BOYS!" Sakura yelled. She grabbed her bag. "I'll be a part of your plan, but you'd better find some way to make Neji realize he CAN'T marry me!" She stormed out of the empty classroom, but Sasuke followed her. He grabbed her arm.

"What's going on?" The hallway was empty except for them and it made Sakura even more nervous. Sakura sighed.

"You tell me." She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and her voice was shaky. "I hate this school. Nothing is working out! I lost Hatake, Gaara cut my hair, all the girls hate me, and all the boys are stalking me, and now I'm part of some dumb mission." She leaned against a locker and slid down to the floor, letting the tears flow. "I know it's stupid but I just wanted to fit in somewhere, you know?" She brought her hand up to wipe away tears but Sasuke's hand beat her to it. She gasped, shocked.

"I know." He took her hand and pulled her up. "You'll get through it. Come on, we're late." They walked to calculus together in silence, but something was definitely different.

"Sakura!" Sasuke yelled, throwing a rock at Sakura's window. He'd been doing so for about ten minutes, and was going to be late very soon. He also still hadn't handled the issue of Gaara, who apparently was watching the JV game at Konoha. Shikamaru had said he'd found a way to 'take care' of Gaara and Sasuke was partially thankful that he didn't know about that aspect of the plan. Finally, Sakura poked her head out of the window. Her green eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Sorry! I'll be right down."

Seconds later she appeared out the front door. Sasuke looked away, trying to hide his blush. She was wearing a thin green dress that was fitted but not too tight, and a white jacket and green heels. She was smiling and blushing.

"Well, Shikamaru did a good job with Gaara. I got a call just a few minutes ago because he's at the hospital getting hundreds of ant bites treated!"

"..." Sasuke stared at her. "...Ant bites?"

"Yeah, Shikamaru is insane!" She shook her head. They started walking towards the restaurant.

"That's the dumbest dress I've ever seen. You'll freeze!" Sasuke snapped. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I'm supposed to look hot, not sensible. This was the closest thing I had."

"What about that dress you wore to see Shikamaru and I play that time?"

"...Why do you remember that?" She peered at him. He blushed and looked away.

"Obviously because I've never seen anything so skimpy." He sneered.

"Shut up!"

They arrived at the restaurant, and Sasuke went to stand in the parking lot for ten minutes. Sakura went on inside.

Before Sakura had even set eyes on Shikamaru or Ino, she could hear them.

"Go away, you lazy punk! I'm meeting Sasuke here for a romantic candlelight dinner!" Ino shrieked, throwing her black purse on the ground. Shikamaru glared.

"Ugh, troublesome annoying bitch." He spat. Sakura stared. Ino was wearing a skintight black strapless dress and black heels. Her hair was left down and it fell nearly to her waist. She looked like a model. Shikamaru was wearing a black dress shirt and black dress pants and his hair was pulled into a slightly neater topknot. Sakura hated to admit it but he looked handsome.

"Oh look, it's big Forehead girl." Ino sneered. Sakura waved, trying to be civil.

"Ino! Can't believe I'm running into you here! Shikamaru and I are on a date!" Sakura felt like the smile she'd plastered on looked insane, and her voice sounded overly sing-songish. She threw her arms around Shikamaru.

"Oh Sakura. You look so beautiful." Shikamaru deadpanned, as if reading from a script. He wasn't even looking at Sakura, he was staring at something on someone's dinner plate.

"I have an idea! Why don't we all sit together!" Sakura said a little too happily, like she'd just found out she'd won the lottery. Ino glared.

"No way! I want Sasuke all to my-"

Just then, Kakashi walked in.

That shut Ino and Sakura both up. They froze. Had it been raining? He was soaked. He was wearing a white button up shirt and jeans and looked so adorably messy and out of it that Sakura felt her heart breaking all over again.

"Sakura." He breathed. "I needed to see you-" Then, as if things couldn't get any worse, Gaara and Sasuke burst in, fighting each other to get ahead. Gaara's shirt was torn and Sasuke was covered in mud (how ironic, Shikamaru though) and they were snarling at each other.

"Get OFF me!" Gaara bellowed, moving to punch Sasuke in the face. He looked up and opened his mouth to start shrieking, but his fury was eclipsed by a new voice: Neji.

In the strange blend of voices, Sakura was able to pick out the words marriage, betrayal, death, lies, and... telephone pole?

"SHUT UP!" Ino cried, picking up her purse and hurling it at the tangle of men. Gaara struggled to break free.

"MY ASS IS COVERED IN TROPICAL ANT BITES AND I WAS TIED TO A FREAKING TELEPHONE POLE BY THIS FREAK!!" Gaara and Sasuke resumed battling, with Neji thrown in, looking confused and furious.

"SAKURA, HOW COULD YOU DATE SHIKAMARU? WE ARE ENGAGED!"

"WHAT!? SAKURA, I TOLD YOU YOU COULDN'T DATE! THAT INCLUDES ENGAGEMENT!"

"SHUT UP! SAKURA IS MINE!"

"YOU ALL ARE RUINING MY ROMANTIC CANDLELIGHT DINNER WITH SASUKE!"

Sakura and Shikamaru stared as it escalated into a huge melee: Gaara was attacking Neji and Sasuke, and was being attacked by Ino who was also trying to kill Kakashi, who was mainly fighting Neji.

Shikamaru sighed and stormed out of the restaurant, mumbling something about 'troublesome plans.' Sakura decided to also leave. Where, she didn't know. She just wanted to get away from her messed up life.

It was raining outside, but she didn't care. She trudged down the street, feeling herself get soaked through and through. The gray atmosphere was darkening with night and, unfortunately, Sasuke had been right, she was freezing. Her feet ached from walking in the high heels, but nothing ached as much as her heart. Seeing Kakashi look at her like that had ruined all of her resolve to keep going.

"Wait! Sakura!" She turned to see Kakashi running towards her. Already, she could feel herself about to cry. She waited for him to catch up.

"What?" She stared miserably at him. He reached out and brushed her hair out of her face. His hands sent tingles up her spine. His hands traveled to her shoulders and he pulled her close. The way he held her seemed to say, please. He buried his face in her wet hair.

"Come home with me tonight." He said, tracing circles on her back with his fingertips tenderly. "We need each other."

She shivered, listening to him and trying not to cry. It couldn't work. Ever. Right?

"Just forget about it for now. Just hold me." She told him. She didn't want to think ahead right now. Gaara was going to kill her when she got home and make her life even worse.

He smelled like cigarettes and coffee and she breathed in the scent deeply, closing her eyes and remembering her life before she met him. Really, he was the reason everything was so bad now.

They walked together halfway to Sakura's house.

"We'll talk tomorrow." She said. "But it'd be a bad idea for you to show up with me." They kissed slowly, savoring the moment. Sakura ran home in the rain, wondering what hell was in store for her when she got home.


	16. Parades and More Balls

Hey guys! Can't believe I'm updating again so soon, eh? Ugh, I have a physics project to finish (i'm doing an animation of colliding galaxies. Poo!) and I want to finish it today, so of course, what better way to start than writing another chapter of JWIN? Huzzah! Well, the last chapter wasn't really funny, which was lame because this story is supposed to be funny, but... eh... yeah. I'm babbling now. I was reading over the old chapters and the formatting is pretty confusing, no? I'll work on that, promise! And now, for... chapter sixteen! Woo hoo!

Sixteen: Parades and More Balls

"Good morning, Konoha. Today is October third and it is 60 degrees fahrenheit outside. Don't forget about the varsity soccer game on Friday. There are no scheduled athletic events for today. The lunch menu is beef flavored ramen. There are no special announcements today." Sakura deadpanned. Haku was seated behind her, munching on bamboo shoots and rolling his eyes.

"Geez Sakura, you really suck at these announcements. You're like, the low fat vanilla yogurt of announcers. Totally boring and without spice." He chuckled at his own badly done simile and giggled at the annoyed look on Sakura's face. "Don't look at me like that. You're starting to act like Uchiha. Boooring." Haku got up and sauntered away. Sakura briefly wondered where Neji was.

She got up and put her bag on her shoulder, thinking about how exhausted she was. As part of her punishment, she had gotten to clean the entire house last night, after doing her homework, and had only gotten an hour or two of sleep. Now Gaara drove her to school and picked her up. 'So much for having a social life.' Sakura thought bitterly. She opened the door and was planning to walk to her Literature class when she froze in horror.

Naruto and some fat guy were dressed up as brides in the traditional white kimono and veils. Their faces were caked with makeup and they were dancing, leading what appeared to be a parade. The first float was covered in millions of cherry blossoms, but a lot of them were wilting and bees buzzed around them eagerly. The next float had a couple guys dressed up as ninja, fighting with kunai. The third and final float was a throne. Atop it sat Neji in traditional groom's robes, looking extremely pleased with himself. When his float reached the petrified Sakura, the parade stopped, and Neji stepped down from his throne. He had a scroll in his hand.

"Sakura, my betrothed. I have written a song for you that I hope to play at our true wedding."

Naruto and the fat guy who Sakura now recognized to be Chouji appeared in Geisha outfits with shamisen. They began wailing (singing?) and playing the shamisen badly. Neji sang above them, but it really sounded more like talking:

"Sakura, my love, the only goldfish in my bowl

You light my way in the darkness

You light the way in my soul

If I were a reindeer I'd want you to be my harness

Oh Sakura, my love, the only goldfish in my bowl."

Thankfully, the wailing and shamisen playing stopped. Sakura anxiously looked around for a way out, but there was none. It seemed the entire school was there in the hallway, waiting along with Neji for her to say something.

"Well..."

-SMACK-

"MMPH!! NRRJI GERFF MMMM!!" Sakura flailed about wildly, trying to get the long-haired freak off of her mouth. The 'kiss' lasted a minute or so. Finally, Neji pulled away.

"Ah, yes, Sakura, I saw fireworks. It MUST be true love. We shall be happy together." He deadpanned. Sakura sweatdropped, still wondering if Sasuke was going to drop by anytime soon to save her.

"Well, I don't know, Neji..." She started, backing away from his creepy eyes. On Hinata, they were beautiful. On Neji, they were just plain freaky.

WHIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! WHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Everyone clapped their hands over their ears, screaming at the loud noise that filled the hallways. The fire alarm was going off! Everyone started to head to the field where they were supposed to gather during fires and fire drills, clutching their ears to block out the horribly loud sound that was not unlike Ino's voice. Naruto barreled down the hallway shrieking. Neji ran with everyone else, forgetting about Sakura. Sakura followed them, wondering if the fire was real or if it was just a drill. She was jogging to keep up with the crowd when a hand snatched her arm and dragged her into a classroom. This seemed to happen a lot to her.

The classroom was blessedly silent, save for her breathing. She looked around. Sasuke was standing there, looking more pissed off than usual, and, if possible, even sexier than usual. His hair was tousled and his dress shirt was unbuttoned halfway and wrinkled underneath his blazer and his tie hung untied around his collar. Sakura giggled.

"Had some wardrobe malfunctions this morning?" She teased, reaching out to button his shirt. His hand blocked hers easily.

"What the fuck?" He snapped.

"Um, I was just going to fix your-"

"You know what I'm talking about." His eyes seemed to blaze and his cheeks were reddened in anger. Sakura looked away.

"Look, I know it's a bad idea-"

"Bad idea? Are you fucking _kidding_ me?!" He yelled. He picked up his physics II textbook and threw it on the ground in rage. "You want a normal life, so you fucking kiss your fucking CALCULUS teacher in the middle of TOMOYO BOULEVARD! Oh, yeah, sounds like a GREAT way to have a NORMAL life!" Sakura once again felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she blinked them away. This was no time to cry.

"What's it to you, Sasuke? He CARES about me-"

"Oh, please. Remember when he ditched you at that restaurant when the fanboys were going after you?"

"That was ONE time, and I don't blame-"

"Okay, allow me to give you more examples. If he really _cared_ so much, he wouldn't risk your reputation to fuck you-"

"We're not doing that!" Sakura interrupted, tears streaming down her cheeks now. Sasuke laughed coldly.

"Not yet. But-"

"And, in case you hadn't noticed, he's risking his JOB-"

"He can always find another one. You can't get another reputation. And, once again, if he _really_ was worth risking everything for, then he'd be a good enough guy to realize that you really are worth so much more than-"

He stopped. All of a sudden, everything fell silent. Sakura felt like the room was spinning around her; she grabbed onto the edge of a desk for support. Sasuke stepped back, not looking at her.

"...Were you the one who set off the alarm?" She whispered finally. Sasuke nodded, still not looking at her. Everything had clicked into place. "And that whole thing with Shikamaru and dating Ino..."

"Yes." His voice was barely audible, and even though the question hadn't been voiced, it was understood. He looked up slowly, onyx eyes meeting emerald eyes. But she saw so much more in them now. Anxiety, pain, fear... and something else?

"Sasuke..."

"I have to get out of here." He said quietly. He grabbed his bag and pushed past her. She stood frozen, listening to the sound of his quick footsteps as he hurried down the hall.

- -

Sakura ate her lunch hidden in the bathroom, although she really couldn't eat. Her mind was spinning, so she sat huddled in a stall, her head against the cold tile. She couldn't think about anything. Her thoughts were all mushed together, and when she tried to figure out how she really felt about anything, it just failed. The guy that the entire female population of Konoha high would kill to date had just basically confessed his love to her... but something was different. She didn't feel like she thought she should have: ecstatic and dancing with happiness. When she tried to decipher the tidal wave of emotions that came over her when she thought of Sasuke, all she could think of was when he passed notes to her in origami that day in calculus. Or when he asked what the hell 'lol' meant. Or the way he'd tried to make tea that time she'd stayed at his apartment and Gaara had poured it back on him in a fit of rage. Or the way he looked when he played guitar. But when she thought of Hatake, her mind went to how handsome he was, or how deliciously dangerous it felt to be in a relationship with a teacher.

She heard footsteps enter. Through the space at the bottom of the stalls, she could see the prissy black flats that were definitely those of Ino. She held her breath, praying Ino wouldn't open her stall-

"ACK!" They both screamed. Ino rolled her eyes when she'd calmed down.

"Freak. Actually I was looking for you." Sakura stared stupidly at Ino, who appeared even taller, thinner, and more intimidating, now that she was sitting down on the floor. She also observed that Ino was wearing a purple lacy thong. Gross.

Ino put the toilet seat cover down and sat down on it, much to Sakura's surprise. She leaned forward so that her face was more level with Sakura's. "So... what the hell happened yesterday?"

"Er... I'm not really sure..." She replied cautiously. She really didn't feel like pissing Ino off right now.

"Oh, just give it up. I know it was a plot and all for Shikamaru to win me. I'm talking about Hatake." She snapped, waving her hand as if to wave away Mission: Pig. It was strange to hear someone else call him Hatake.

Sakura sighed and looked down. "...Did you see-"

"Yes, I saw you guys hook up and all." Ino interrupted irritably.

"...Well... I dunno what to say..." Sakura shrugged. Really, what was there to say about it?

"FYI, you, Haruno Sakura, are the BIGGEST MORON I've ever met. Good grades and advanced classes aside."

"...Huh?"

"I dated him too, okay? And I don't know why I'm warning you, because you're unfashionable and get on my nerves and are a man-hog... but just trust me. You think he's this great caring guy, but when you get caught and are in total shit for it, he will NOT stick up for you. He will pretend you were just infatuated with him the whole time and were coming onto him and he couldn't stop you."

If Sakura wasn't mistaken, Ino's sky blue eyes were wet with angry tears. Ino stood up and walked into the next stall and went. There was an awkward silence, made even worse by... well, everything. Sakura stared at the wall of the stall. Ino had to be lying... but hadn't Sasuke told her the same thing? Was this just a performance on Ino's part? Why would she do that?

Ino left finally, and Sakura could hear the first bell, signaling she had five minutes to get a grip on herself and get to... advanced calculus class. She groaned, banging her head against the wall.

"This sucks!"

- -

"WOOOO HOOOO!!! GO KONOHA! GET THOSE MIZUNEKAGE BITCHES!!!" Naruto ran up and down the field in the school mascot costume, which was a giant leaf. His head poked out in a hole somewhere towards the top of the leaf, and since the costume went to his knees, his leg movement was limited. So it was more like he was waddling up and down the field, but really quickly. Tsunade sat on one of the bleachers closest to the field. She was sweatdropping, embarrassed to be principal of such a weird school. Sasuke was standing with the other soccer players, warming up nervously. Sakura chewed on her lip, watching Ino run over to him and kiss him. He didn't pay any attention. It looked like he and Kakashi were yelling at each other now. Sasuke was giving Kakashi his trademark deathglare, but it clearly didn't have the same effect on Kakashi as it did on everyone else.

"Geez, what a diva." Gaara apparently didn't recognize Sasuke from across the field. Sakura realized that this was probably a very good thing. She nodded absently, watching Kakashi storm off and start yelling at the referee.

Because Gaara was so obsessed with high school sports, he had allowed Sakura to go (with him) to the varsity game. Sakura didn't really want to be there, considering she had carefully avoided both Kakashi and Sasuke the past few days. Although, since Sasuke had been avoiding her too, it hadn't been very difficult.

After announcements, the game began. Everyone was silent, watching in amazement the pure athleticism of both teams—especially Sasuke. No other guy on the field ran as fast or kicked as perfectly as he did. Sakura could see Ino watching him hungrily, like a vulture.

"Hey... that asshole is the freak that taped me to the fucking telephone pole!" Gaara hissed. His face darkened and Sakura sighed. Well, it had only been a matter of time before he'd recognize Sasuke. He didn't exactly have a forgettable face. Gaara stood up and forced his way along the bleachers. Sakura put her face in her hands. She couldn't stop him from doing whatever stupid and embarrassing thing he was going to do now.

"Hey! Get off the field!" The ref blew his whistle to pause the game, but it was no use. Gaara was barreling towards Sasuke, whose coal eyes widened in horror. Sakura read his lips that said, what the fuck? and watching as he began running away at top speed from Gaara. Then Gaara spotted Kakashi, and stopped chasing Sasuke to run after him. Naruto, still in his leaf costume, waddled very fast to the fighting men. He was a screaming green blur.

"DON'T TOUCH KAKASHI YOU..." Naruto paused, trying to think of a good word. "...YOU CHEESEBOMB!" Satisfied with the insult, he took a step back and then jumped onto Gaara, knocking him to the ground in a screaming mess of arms and legs. Kakashi tried to pull Naruto's fuzzy green body away from the violent Gaara, when for no apparent reason, Ino ran and conked Kakashi over the head and began beating up the other two men. Across the field, Sakura could hear something about ruining Sasuke's perfect game. Sasuke stared, confused, at the bundle of wild arms and legs, all fighting over him. Then Gaara broke free and went over to Sasuke again, and the fight was transferred to Sasuke. Sakura stood up, realizing what she had to do.

Before she could comprehend what was going on, she was running towards the forgotten soccer ball on the field, concentrating with all her might on hitting Gaara and Ino and Kakashi and Naruto, to save Sasuke. She narrowed her eyes, and then kicked the black and white ball with every ounce of her being.

-SMACK-

Unfortunately, it hit Sasuke squarely in the head.

- -

a/n: well, chapter sixteen is complete! and no, this story isn't anywhere NEAR over... heheh... stay tuned for chapter seventeen: infirmaries, cowprint underwear, Neji getting drunk, and a whole lot more insanity and chaos!


	17. Hanging By a Moment

Chapter Seventeen: Hanging By a Moment

The first thing a person wants to see after waking up from being knocked out by a soccer ball is... well, not Naruto's pink whiskery face. Unless that person is Hinata.

"AH!" Sasuke yelled, bolting up in the bed. Naruto fell backwards with all the grace of an anvil.

"Geez, chill out man!" He whined, rubbing his head. Sasuke glared at Naruto, and then looked around the room. He was obviously in the school infirmary. He could hear the nurse's voice, and Ino shrieking. "Damn, Sakura-chan knocked you out pretty badly! You were unconscious for an hour!" Naruto chuckled. Sasuke blinked.

"What?"

"We were all fighting, and Sakura-chan kicked the soccer ball at us, but it hit YOU instead!!" Naruto roared with laughter. Sasuke sweatdropped.

"Where is she now?"

"Eh, Gaara probably took her home and basically killed her. I am still madly in love with her, but... no point chasing after her with that psycho as her older brother! Oh, and now with Neji being all wedding-happy..." Naruto trailed off at the sight of Sasuke's face. "What? Geez, she didn't hit you in the head THAT hard. ...Wait... is there something you're not telling me?" he eyed Sasuke warily. He knew Sasuke very well and that meant understanding every variant of his deathglare, which was generally his facial expression. But you had to be careful, different deathglares meant different things.

Sasuke flopped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. "I think she was trying to save you." Naruto offered timidly. Sasuke looked at the leaf-clad young man out of the corner of his eye. It made sense but...

"I'm going." He said shortly, jumping out of bed. He was a bit wobbly from being knocked out but nevertheless he forged onward.

"Oh, great, here we go, the Mighty Sasuke charges Mizunekage Varsity Soccer all on his own-"

"Not to the field, stupid." Sasuke snapped. He opened the window and looked down. The infirmary was on the second floor, but a handy tree was right next to the window. Sasuke started to put his leg through the window.

"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE!?" Naruto shrieked, grabbing Sasuke's arm.

"LET GO!" Sasuke yelled, punching Naruto in the gut with his other hand. It knocked Naruto backwards with him howling in pain. Satisfied, Sasuke continued to climb out the window, feeling with his left foot for the closest tree branch. Naruto was curled on the floor in pain, whining.

"Owww Sasuke you bastard! Fine, I WON'T stop you from going and doing whatever stupid-"

"What is he doing now?" Sakura entered the room to find Naruto rolling on the tiled floor, slobbering in pain, and Sasuke half-way out the window.

"I'm leaving!" Naruto scowled. "Besides, I have a freaking drama showcase to be at!" He stuck out his tongue and left Sasuke and Sakura alone in the infirmary.

"Um... do you want some help with that?" She giggled. Sasuke glared.

"No." He snapped.

After struggling for five minutes, he looked up again, glaring even more, his face bright red. Sakura giggled and opened the window more, tugging on his arm.

"Agh, you're pretty heavy, Sasuke!" Sakura wheezed. Finally he was freed and landed on top of Sakura on the floor. They both knocked knees and elbows as they scrambled to get off each other. Finally, they sat several feet apart from each other on the floor, facing each other and out of breath.

"...What about-" Sasuke began.

"He was so proud of me that he let me see you!" She giggled. Sasuke rolled his eyes, trying not to notice that her blouse was unbuttoned a bit, revealing soft pale skin that wasn't quite cleavage. He blushed, looking away. Why did she always look so soft?

Unfortunately, she scooted across the floor to sit closer to him. "Sorry about that. I meant to hit one of them, but..." She drifted off. He wasn't even looking at her! She glared, sitting up straight and crossing her arms. He looked back, glaring right back at her.

"What?!" He yelled, feeling really annoyed. She just thought she could waltz right in here in that stupid blouse and wear stupid shiny stuff on her mouth, and be so irritatingly kissable.

"I come in here and apologize, and also because I actually want to talk about stuff, and you ignore me!" She cried, throwing her arms up in the air. Sasuke snorted.

"_Ignore_ you!? Are you KIDDING me!?" He stood up too fast; he lost his balance and gripped the rail of the bed for support. Sakura shot up to grab him as well, then stopped herself. Her hands barely touched his arms, which were smooth and taut. She blushed, backing away.

"...Maybe I should just leave now." She said, turning. "GAH! Sasuke!"

Before she actually knew what was happening, he had snatched her arm and pulled her back to him and against him. There was an eerie moment that made Sakura feel like she was in an alternate universe. They stood there pressed against each other, staring into each other's eyes. Sasuke looked extremely confused for a moment.

Sakura subconsciously admired the way his dark hair fell into his eyes, and how boyish that cowlick in the back was. She sucked in a breath sharply, breaking the eye contact and focusing on his smooth neck and square, defined jawline. Okay, bad idea, she thought, looking for something else to focus on. Anything but how soft his tee shirt felt, or how lean his chest was, or how he smelled like laundry detergent and freshly cut grass. She could feel him breathing as shallowly as she was.

"SAKURA! HOW DARE YOU IGNORE OUR ENGAGEMENT!!"

"GAH!"

They broke away, stumbling backwards. Neji glared at Sasuke.

"You! You are dishonoring me by selfishly coercing my fian-"

"JUST SHUT-"

"Don't you have that stupid drama thing to be in?" Sasuke interrupted Sakura. Neji glared.

"What's it to you?" He asked slowly. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Well, aren't you going to get a bad grade in drama if you aren't at this thing-"

And like magic, Neji was gone. And they were alone again. Crap!

"Um..." Sakura blushed, fidgeting with the hem of her blouse. Sasuke looked away, and out the window.

"Sakura?" He breathed. They made eye contact again, and this time Sakura couldn't bear to look away. She felt lost in his onyx eyes, looking at her so tenderly.

"Yes?" She barely whispered, leaning forward, closer to him.

"...Your cowprint underwear is showing."

"SASUKE!!"

- -

Sakura tapped her nose with her ballpoint pen, deep in thought. 'Using the definite integral, find the volume of the equations when it has been revolved around the Y-axis. Show all work.' Dammit!

She glanced up at Sasuke's back. He was writing quickly and probably almost done the test. Hmph. She glared and tried to refocus, which had been a difficult task ever since her encounter with him alone on Friday night. 'Had he been about to kiss me?' The thought kept rearing its head in her mind and inner Sakura couldn't seem to just club it over the head and make it go away.

"Time's up guys." Kakashi announced, standing up from his desk to collect the test papers. Sakura froze. No! She wasn't even done! She glared at her paper and finished the question just in time to look up and see Kakashi standing over her, his eyebrow raised.

"As good looking as that test is, Haruno, you should probably get off it." He said lazily. Students around the room snickered and Sakura flushed molten. Sasuke looked back at them and gave the usual deathglare. Kakashi ignored it and added Sakura's test paper to the pile, continuing on down the row.

Sakura bit her lip and looked down. She still hadn't quite addressed the problem that was Kakashi. They hadn't spoken since the night after the restaurant incident but it was understood that things weren't the same. Or, at least Sakura hoped so. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but...

"Stop that." Sasuke came up behind her, adjusting the strap on his bag. They were making their way through the empty halls; classes still hadn't let out yet. Kakashi only permitted thirty minutes for tests.

"What?"

"That thing you do." He snapped. "When you're worrying." He added, casting a sidelong glance in her direction. Sakura sighed. "...If it's about Kakashi you're being stupid."

"I know." She replied somberly. She heard him scoff. Then she brightened. "Want a project?" She giggled. They stopped in the middle of the hall.

"...What?" He raised an eyebrow in confusion. Sakura beamed.

"Okay, so... you know how Naruto likes me but not really?"

"...Yes..."

"And... you know how-well, okay, you don't know, but..." She took this as a reason to lean in closer to him, looking around and lowering her voice to a whisper conspiratorially. "...Hinata likes him. A LOT."

"...Who's Hinata and what's your point?"

"Sasuke! Obviously we have to set them up! And I thought you knew her, she mentioned you-"

"Every girl in this school pretends they know me." He interrupted, folding his arms across his chest. As usual, he was looking so sexy it should have been illegal.

"Hinata's not a fan girl. I guess she just knows of you. Anyway, I want to set them up!" She bounced on her heels. Sasuke rolled his black eyes but there was a definite tug at the corners of his mouth. Sakura smiled. If she hadn't been paying such close attention, she never would have caught it. Sasuke shrugged.

"Sounds stupid. You have fun with it." He said gruffly, though it would be pretty funny to see Naruto finally get a girlfriend.

"Oh, I will. BELIEVE me. Actually, I'm surprised neither of them is already taken. Hinata's very pretty, and Naruto is-and I can't believe I'm saying this, but-kind of hot. If you, you know, ignore..."

"...Basically everything about him." Sasuke finished. He shuddered, presumably at the thought of someone thinking Naruto was hot. Sakura blushed.

"Well, he is tall-"

"Not as tall as me."

"And he's fairly buff-"

"I play more sports than him-"

"AND he is social!" Sakura finished, glaring at him. Sasuke smirked.

"Okay, you got me there." He raised his hands up in an 'I surrender' and dropped them. Sakura laughed, punching his arm lightly.

"Don't worry, Sasuke, everyone still thinks you're gorgeous."

They leisurely made their way to the cafeteria to grab lunch, enjoying not having to wait in lines.

"So," Sasuke started, spooning rice onto a plate, "why exactly are you bothering with this again? It sounds dumb."

"Because it will be CUTE! And romantic." Sakura sighed dreamily. Sasuke choked.

"Naruto and romantic are two concepts that do not coexist in the physical world." He muttered, grabbing napkins. They sat down at a table in the corner.

"I'll text Hinata and have her sit with us so you can meet her!" Sakura said cheerily, unwilling to let Sasuke's spirit or lack thereof dampen her own spirits. After all, school was the only fun she was going to be having for awhile, thanks to being grounded. Sasuke shrugged and munched on a carrot stick. She looked up from her phone and glared. "That's when you say, 'oh, I'll text Naruto and have him sit with us'." She narrowed her eyes.

"No way!" Sasuke backed away, still in his chair. "I'm not 'texting' him or whatever, I don't even know how. Second of all, there is no way I'm sitting with that dobe at lunch!" He shook his head fiercely and Sakura laughed.

"Okay, fine. Maybe by chance he'll walk by and decide to sit with us-"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so!" He snapped. Sakura rolled her eyes, then stopped. Her phone beeped with the arrival of a new message.

"She said she was planning on doing work in the quad."

"Oh, that's too bad."Sasuke said sarcastically, stuffing his face with rice.

"Yes, too bad that we'll be going to sit with her. I haven't talked to her in a few days anyway. So come." She got up and threw out her lunch; she wasn't that hungry anyway and it was a small victory against Gaara to waste his money.

She practically had to drag him out to the quad and noticed Hinata's tiny form, hunched over many books.

"Great, a nerd." Sasuke hissed. Sakura hit him on the back.

"Hinata!"

The pretty silver-eyed girl looked up from her studying and smiled at Sakura waving at her.

"S-sakura-chan!" She laughed.

Sasuke and Sakura sat down next to Hinata on the low brick wall.

"I-I'm p-p-planning the d-dance for this Friday." Hinata explained, showing the diagram she was working on. There were drawings of flowers and garlands that would drape across the basketball hoops in the gym.

"Ooh it looks so pretty! Too bad I won't be able to go." Sakura said, fighting away sadness. Hinata shrugged.

"I'm s-s-sure it won't be that much f-fun." She offered gently. Sakura smiled.

"It's okay, I did it to myself-"

"SAKURA CHAN! WILL YOU GO TO THE DANCE WITH ME?!"

"NO! GO WITH ME! I CAN DANCE SOOO MUCH BETTER!"

"NO, YOU DANCE LIKE A DUCK SHOT IN THE ASS! SAKURA, GO WITH ME!"

Before she realized what was happening, the three of them were running for their lives.

"A-HA! THERE YOU ARE, MY LOVE!"

"Gah! Rock Lee!" Sakura shrieked as eyebrow-boy popped up out of nowhere in front of her, dressed in a pink tuxedo. Sasuke shook in horror at the sight. Hinata just giggled.

"Sakura, I never stopped loving you. Please, forget Neji- marry ME!" He went down on one knee and held Sakura's hands, his eyes shining with tears. "I just am so in love-"

"How dare you!?"

"GACK! NARUTO YOU FIEND!" Rock Lee shrieked, attempting to break free from Naruto who was throttling him.

Suddenly, Sakura was running with Sasuke, leaving the idiots behind them. Hinata had gone to get her books away from the crazed fan boys. Sakura panted, exhausted.

"Sasuke... I think we can stop-what?" Sakura eyed Sasuke suspiciously. He wasn't smiling but still somehow looked extremely smug.

"Obviously, I win again."

"At what?"

"At life. You realize Naruto saw Hinata sitting with you, which means he'll probably try to talk to her more to get more information about you."

"...You do win. I admit it." Sakura grinned. She giggled. "It will be so CUTE! Because, really, Hinata loves Naruto, and I'm sure Naruto will fall in love with her quickly, because she's so pretty and nice and smart!" She sighed dreamily again. Sasuke snorted.

"Whatever."

They walked in silence down the hallway. Sakura didn't know where they were going and something told her neither did Sasuke. "...Are you going to go to the dance on Friday?"

"Hmm, let's see. NO."

"Aw, why not? You could take pictures of everyone for me." Sakura whined, prodding Sasuke's arm. Sasuke batted her hand away absently.

"No! I hate dances. You know why? Because EVERY SINGLE GIRL wants to dance with me. I hate dancing, and I hate those girls. I also hate getting dressed up. Oh, and it's a waste of a Friday when I could be working to pay bills."

"Oh, Sasuke. You're too responsible." Sakura sighed. They came to the back end of the school where there was a courtyard that no one ever used. It was all cement and there was nothing pretty about it. In the center there were a few ugly benches gathered around. "Hm, I never knew this was here." Sakura hopped over to the benches and plopped down. "It's not too bad, actually. Peaceful."

Sasuke continued to stand, his hands shoved into his pockets. He walked over to her and stood in front of her, staring down his perfect nose at her disdainfully. Sakura looked up at him and felt a quivering in her ribcage. All day the unasked question had hung in the air, almost tangible, but ignored by both of them. Now it seemed to assault them both. Sakura looked away, fidgeting. How could she even ask though? She knew exactly what to ask, but she also knew Sasuke. She knew that despite his directness, he relied on ambiguities with her.

"...Remember when you kissed me that time in the tree in front of my house? That day with the goldfish?" She finally asked hesitantly. Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"What about it?"

"...Would you do that again?"

There was a harsh silence. Sasuke looked away, and Sakura felt her heart plunge. 'But I KNOW he likes me! Thisdoesn't make sense!'

"Sasuke... look at me." She whispered, standing up. She was tired of these frozen moments where something almost happened, but not quite, between them. He looked at her but she couldn't read his expression. She sighed at his silence. "Well, if not, then at least explain why you did kiss me that day."

He glared. "You ask too many stupid questions." he snapped, crossing his arms. "I don't know why I did, and yes, of course I would do that again. Hn. Stupid girls." He said irritably. Sakura gaped stupidly (and unromantically) at him.

"Then... why... Ah, never mind." Sakura waved her hand as if to wave away the entire problem. "So-"

His lips tasted like rice and plums and he smelled like always: fresh grass and laundry detergent. Sakura blushed as one hand snaked around her waist and the other ended up tangled somehow in her hair. She slid her arms around his neck, closing her eyes.

The kiss ended, in Sakura's opinion, much too soon. He pulled away and straightened his uniform's blazer.

"We're going to be late for our next class." He nodded towards the main section of the school and they began walking again in a happy and slightly embarrassed silence. Sakura cleared her throat.

"You know... I don't know any other guy that would make origami out of notes to pass in class." She said, giggling. Sasuke rolled his eyes but she noticed that he was walking slightly closer to her.

So, she took a chance and took ahold of his hand.

--

A/N: Okay, I KNOW I said Neji would be drunk in this chapter, but I realized that there was just too much to cover and that has to happen in the next chapter. dances around idiotically I actually am proud of this chapter, mostly because it's sooooo long! OH AND FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO BITCHED ABOUT THE KAKASAKU IN THIS STORY...

HAH!

SASUSAKU FOREVER!!! waves banner around like a demented otaku

It's so hard to write sasusaku because Sasuke is... well, about as naturally romantic as a brick wall.

Anyways, PLEASE REVIEW AND GIVE ME FEEDBACK! I want the feedback because I want to finish this story soon and then try to start revising it because I realize there are sooo many plot errors (among other things... heh ;) and it would help me tons.

And FINALLY... for the next chapter: Neji gets drunk, Gaara gets in touch with his inner woman, Shikamaru kisses Hinata, and Ino drinks a love potion. Could things get any weirder? In this story, hell yes! Rock Lee finds his true love and Naruto goes to a salon.

Stay tuned for all this and more!


	18. It Gets Even Weirder

Chapter Eighteen: It Gets Even Weirder!

"OMIGAWD OMIGAWD OMIGAWD!!!" Ino ran by, shrieking. Sakura sweatdropped and crossed the hall to History of Konoha. The school dance was tonight (which Sakura would not be attending) and all the girls in the school were freaking out about whether Sasuke would ask them. Sakura eavesdropped on them all as they gossiped about what they would wear and who Sasuke would ask while Inner Sakura smugly pumped her fist and screamed HELL YES!

Okay, so she didn't _really_ know if she and Sasuke were an item, per se. They'd kissed and held hands but did that really mean anything?

The unsettling thought had remained in her head all day. As Sakura chewed on her pen and watched Hinata doodle cartoons of Ino looking like a pig in her dress, Inner Sakura batted the thought away rather unsuccessfully. Sasuke was such a mystery, who knew what he was thinking or how he felt? To make matters worse, she was grounded so they couldn't date anyway.

After class, Sakura bid Hinata goodbye and walked home. It was a fairly nice day out, but it was ruined by Gaara calling every minute to make sure she was still on her way home.

"For the LAST time Gaara, YES. I AM WALKING HOME. I'M ABOUT TO TURN THE CORNER- ...huh?" She pulled her phone away from her ear. "...Call ended? That's weird. Hm. Whatever" She snapped her phone shut and finally reached the low white gate in front of the house. The gate gaped open and the front door hadn't been shut, swaying slightly in the breeze. Sakura stopped and raised an eyebrow. That was unlike Gaara. She shrugged and continued on inside, dropping her bag on the table.

"I'm home!" She called, but was greeted with silence. She walked into the kitchen and fished around in the refrigerator for a snack. "Yes!" She squealed, unearthing a slice of cake. She grabbed a fork and ran upstairs, settling in front of her computer. She was just getting into reading a fanfiction when a strange whirring sound, like that of a hairdryer, reached her ears.

"Gaara? What are you _doing?"_ When he didn't answer, she reluctantly abandoned her cake and fiction to search for her neurotic brother.

In the hall, she could hear that the sound was coming from Gaara's bedroom. She poked her head into the room, expecting to find Gaara destroying something.

This wasn't quite what she'd expected.

She froze in horror. Gaara was unconscious and tied to a chair, in front of a mirror. Hinata was blowdrying his hair while Naruto, giggling maniacally, plucked Gaara's eyebrows and put on insanely colored eyeshadow. Naruto stopped when he saw Sakura, petrified, at the door.

"Sakura-chan! We were just wondering when you'd get here. Whaddya think?" He waved towards Gaara. Sakura gaped. Hinata giggled, blushing.

"W-w-we w-w-w-w-wanted y-y-ou t-t-t-to go t-t-t-t-to the d-d-d-dance..." She stammered, whispering. She looked like a tomato. Sakura continued to gape.

"...And this has WHAT to do with making my brother look like Haku!?"

--

Sasuke scowled at his wristwatch. Ten minutes late. He hated it when people were late. He also hated having to get dressed up. He felt like a buffoon.

Looking practically edible, Sasuke was wearing a light blue dress shirt and black pants. He stood outside his apartment building, waiting for Ino to show up. He had tried to break up with her earlier that day, but she'd covered her ears and started singing loudly. Then she'd threatened him to take her to the dance or else she'd say in the morning announcements that he and Haku were in a secret relationship. So, grudgingly, Sasuke had agreed to take her to the dance.

Finally, Ino showed up. She stomped over to Sasuke, wearing a strapless white minidress and silver heels.

"I think when we get married, this is what I want my wedding dress to look like." Ino said, closing her eyes and puckering her lips. Sasuke turned and started walking to the school. Ino growled, then pranced after him, whining the whole way.

The dance was in the gym. Loud rap music boomed throughout, and it was dark except for strobe lights at the front where the dj was. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Hadn't Shikamaru been booked to play at the dance?

Sasuke weaved through the pulsing crowd to where the punch was. He really did not feel like dancing. Ino trotted behind him like a puppy dog.

"Sasuke, get me some punch!" She squealed. Sasuke grumbled something about assault and battery notwithstanding and went to pour Ino a cup of punch when a hand stopped him.

"I didn't think you'd come tonight." Shikamaru drawled. He handed Ino a cup of punch instead. Ino snatched it from him and gulped it down. Shikamaru ignored Sasuke's response and moved closer to Ino-

"HEY! WATCH IT YOU TROUBLESOME ASSHOLE!"

But it was too late. Kiba, a guy who had attached fur collars to every—seriously, even when wearing a bathing suit, he had a separate collar—item of clothing, including the green dress shirt he was currently wearing, backed away, brushing himself off. Ino stared at him dreamily.

"I wanna pet yoooouuuu..." She purred, reaching out for his collar. Kiba shrieked and turned and began to run away, but Ino chased after him like he was Sasuke.

"DAMMIT!" Shikamaru yelled, hitting the refreshments table with a clenched fist. Sasuke raised his eyebrow. Shikamaru sighed.

"I got a love potion from that creepy goth girl Tenten—you know, the one with the knives—but Kiba got in the way! Now she's madly in love with him! Gah, stupid troublesome love potion..." He drifted off, staring after Ino. Sasuke wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Freak." He turned. Finally, he could get out of here. He was heading towards the door when he froze in shock.

It didn't look like Naruto. It certainly didn't SMELL like Naruto (there was a definite lack of the smell of beef flavored seasoning)... but it was Naruto.

His hair was slicked back on his head and he was wearing a white dress shirt and khakis that were actually long enough for him. He was cool, calm, and collected.

"Whaddya think, Sasuke-bastard?" Naruto grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. Sasuke put a hand to his head.

"I think I died and went to hell. This night can't possibly get any weirder." He pushed past Naruto, heading for the door, eager to get out of this twilight zone. He expertly batted away shrieking fan girls, but stopped short at the door.

The most beautiful girl he had ever seen was walking towards the door... well, more like tripping and stumbling because of her high heels. Sakura cursed a blue streak as she made her way over. Her dress was the same pale pink as her hair and very simple, with spaghetti straps. It went down to her knees and fluttered with the evening breeze. She looked up and smiled when she saw him standing there, dumbfounded.

"Naruto-kun and Hinata helped me get here. But I only have a few hours, so let's go dance!" She tottered over to him but tripped at the last second, stumbling into his arms. She blushed, looking up at him and smiling. He glared.

"No way! I'm not going back in there. It's insanity!"

"Oh come on, Sasuke. Just for a little while?"

"Fine." He snapped, following her back into the gym.

As usual, the male population in the room shot over to Sakura. She ducked away.

"...Maybe you're right."

They escaped into a stairwell and ran up it, panting and laughing, to the roof. On the roof it was even more windy but Sakura didn't care. She gasped at the sight of Konoha all lit up at night. They could see for miles; in the darkness the buildings twinkled with lights like stars. "It's so beautiful." She whispered, spinning around slowly to look everywhere around her. Sasuke stood a few feet away, his hands shoved in his pockets. "I can see the temple from here!" She laughed, pointing to an orange glow. Sasuke leaned in to see. He pointed to a spot on the horizon.

"That's the sand country over there."

"Yeah, Gaara used to live there, until my parents got sick. Then he and his wife moved here to take care of me and the temple."

She leaned backwards into him. He continued to stare off into the distance. She heard him breathe in, as though he were about to talk.

"My family used to go to the beach in between during the summer. There was this big summer house we had."

"...Did your parents sell it?"

"It burned down."

"I'm sorry." Sakura whispered. She leaned into him more, trying to think of a way to change the subject. "Where's Ino?"

"No idea."

"Good." She said, grinning. Sasuke smirked. "You know... you COULD ask me to dance." She said, raising her eyebrows.

"I hate dancing and there's no music."

"So?"

"Well, you can't dance without music!"

"Yes you-"

"Sakura!"

They froze and turned around slowly. Neji stumbled towards them drunkenly.

"Uchiha Sasuke..." He hiccupped. "You," he pointed at the Uchiha with a wobbly finger, "have insulted me for the last time. Prepare to die!" He charged at them but tripped. Sakura and Sasuke sweatdropped.

"Neji-kun... go home." Sakura said, helping him up.

"Never! I shall triumph over Sasuke!"

Sasuke bristled. "No you won't."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I don't care what Neji or anyone else says. You're mine." He snapped. Neji narrowed his eyes.

"I'll fight you." He drew his fist. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Okay, but not only will I win, Sakura likes me better than you anyway."

Just then, there was a strange sound. It sounded like a dying cat who had been filled with helium and stabbed. It also sounded like it was saying Neji's name.

"NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The couple and drunken Neji turned to see Rock Lee barreling towards Neji at the speed of light.

"NEJI! I KNOW THE TRUTH NOW!" Rock Lee cried, throwing his arms around the drunk Hyuuga. Neji swatted him away.

"Get off me you ridiculous eyebrow man!" He pushed Lee away and stumbled backwards. Lee fell to his knees and began praying.

"I understand the truth now, Neji. It all started when Shikamaru gave me a cup of this fruit punch and then pointed at you. I saw you running, your hair flying, and now I know. YOU ARE MY TRUE LOVE!" He started for Neji again. "COME BACK HERE, NEJI-WEJI! COME BACK MUFFIN!"

Neji shrieked the shriek of death and scrambled for the stairs with Lee hot on his heels. The echoes of Neji's cries and Lee's proclamations of love floated up the stairwell to Sasuke and Sakura, who stood there staring dumbly at the stairs.

"...Well that was totally normal." Sakura laughed. Sasuke sweatdropped.

They were silent for a moment, listening to the sounds of the dance below, and also the sounds of Konoha at night. Sakura looked up. "...You were ready to fight Neji for me." She tried to mask her smile as she met Sasuke's dark eyes that sent chills up her spine. He stepped closer to her, so that their noses nearly touched as he looked down into her eyes.

"What's it to you?" His lips were centimeters from hers and she could smell the fresh smell of laundry and minty toothpaste on him.

"O-oh, nothing..." Sakura stammered, realizing she was sounding like Hinata. She felt disappointed when Sasuke pulled away without kissing her. "Just... I don't know..."

"What?"

"...It's like you're my boyfriend..." She blushed and looked away, focusing on the dark blue sky dotted with stars. She heard Sasuke scoff.

"Well maybe I should be then."

The simplicity and bluntness of his response stunned Sakura. She swung back to look at him, shocked. He had his arms folded across his chest and he was raising one eyebrow.

"...y-yes... Maybe you should then."

"Okay. Now that that's settled, can we go home now?" He tugged uncomfortably at his shirt. Sakura glared.

"Way to kill a romantic moment."

"Romantic moments are stupid anyway."

They walked down the stairwell and prepared to dash to the other side of the gym before anybody could catch them. Slowly, Sasuke poked his head out of the doorway, glancing around.

"Ready... on three... One... Two... THREE!"

They pushed through the crowds, ducking and swerving until finally they got outside. They panted heavily, bending over from fatigue.

"It's hard being loved by everyone!" Sakura giggled. But something stopped her. "Uh oh... Sasuke... look." She pointed to a bench nearby, where Naruto was seated, looking miserable and lonely.

They walked over to him slowly. "Naruto-kun?"

"Sakura chan... this dance sucks." Naruto pouted. Sakura tilted her head to the side.

"What's wrong?"

Naruto sighed heavily. "I don't know. It's just..." He paused and looked up at Sakura. "Do you think it's weird to like someone after only knowing them for one day?"

Sakura and Sasuke glanced at each other and rolled their eyes, but said nothing. Sakura shook her head.

"No, Naruto-kun. Why?"

"I...never noticed Hinata before. But I walked by and saw Shikamaru kissing her." He stared at the ground sadly. Sasuke smacked his forehead and grabbed Sakura's wrist.

"Forget it, dobe. Shikamaru's not himself tonight. Let's get out of here, Sakura."

--

"So... I guess this is good night." Sakura said awkwardly when they reached her house. They stood in front of the gate. The lights were still out, which meant Gaara was probably still knocked out. They turned to face each other.

"I guess it is." Sasuke looked away uncomfortably.

"Will you call me tomorrow?" Sakura teased, poking him. He looked so sexy when he was uncomfortable. 'Oh wait, that's right. He always looks so sexy.' Inner Sakura commented sarcastically. Sasuke smirked.

"Maybe. If I remember."

"SASUKE!"

--THE END OF PART ONE--

...Well... hope you guys enjoyed it. If you haven't checked out my blog, then I'll let you know now that I want to make a second part to this. I felt like this was a natural ending for part one though. In part two of Just What I Needed, Sasuke and Sakura try to keep a relationship going. Will it last? Will Naruto ever admit his feelings to Hinata? Will Ino ever give a crap about Shikamaru? ...And what about Kakashi? All this and more in PART TWO!! WOO HOO!!!

-Sakura Uchiha


	19. Note

Hey guys!

The link to part two is http:// www. Fanfiction. Net /s /3554559/1/

Just remove the spaces. hope that's helpful to you all.

Enjoy!


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